Innocent Word's Act I
by Boho Bytch
Summary: 'No-one's died in years'- Four words Oliver Wood wishes he's never heard...*FINISHED* Look out for ACT II, coming soon.
1. Prologue

Innocent Words  
  
Author : Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter One : Prologue  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas(j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
~Oliver's POV~  
  
I remember when it all started, eighteen years ago, about twelve weeks after I graduated from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizadry. I'd just scraped enough N.E.W.T's, as you can guess, I'd spent a lot of my time preparing to win the Quidditch Cup, and when we did, I remembered I had exams to think about.  
  
Anyway, I'm still having the nightmares. She's still appearing in my head, when I'm asleep, when I close my eyes for a few seconds, even sometimes when I'm awake. A s well as that, I'm still hearing those four words that Fred Weasley said to Harry when they found out he was Seeker, back in fifth year.  
  
' No-one's died in years'  
  
I wish I hadn't been within earshot at that point, because something about those four innocent words was gonna come back and haunt me, I just knew it, and it did.  
  
But I've got Ben and Cordy, and they're just like their mother. Charming, sweet and absolute devils on broomsticks. They've just started at Hogwarts this year, the house is so lonely without them, but I'm getting daily owls because they worry about me. It's probably still hard for an eleven year old to take in how I'm feeling, because they were was only four months old when she died. The press said it was a tragic accident, and that's what it was, Tragic.  
  
So now I'm goign tell you how it all began...  
  
Short, I know, but hey prologues are meant to be short, at least when I write them that is..  
  
Review with comments, flames, suggestions, queries, whatever, just review ! 


	2. First Day

Innocent Words  
  
Author : Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Two : First Day  
  
/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas(j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /  
  
Emilia Stewart was beginning to get nervous, she only had a few minutes until she would miss the train for her first year at Hogwarts, and she didn't want to do that and look like a right idiot.  
  
She looked around and noticed a handsome young man around her age, she thought, with simmilar luggage.  
  
He smiled when he noticed the distressed look on her face and walked over to her.  
  
'Need some help ?' he asked  
  
She brought her eyes up to meet his and he was taken aback by how pretty she was.  
  
She had almost black hair, down the bottom of her back, pale skin, which was flawless, and she had chocolate brown eyes you could almost drown in, and, not that he was talking much notice, but she had legs all the way up to heaven.  
  
'Um , yes if you don't mind' she smiled nervously.  
  
'You just walk straight towards that wall between platforms nine and ten'  
  
She looked at him skeptically, but did as he said. The next thing she knew, there was a shining red train in front of her, emblazened with the words 'HOGWARTS EXPRESS'  
  
~Wow~ she thought, the young man who had helped her before, followed seconds later.  
  
'Thanks' she said shyly, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.  
  
'No problem, by the way, my name's Harry Potter'  
  
She looked a little surprised to say the least.  
  
'THE Harry Potter ? ~Wow, he's pretty big for a fourth year~ My name's Emilia Stewart'  
  
They shook hands.  
  
'I take you're new here' asked Harry, politely  
  
'Yes, I had to transfer, I'm going into my sixth year' replied Emilia, explainign why she hadn't been at Hogwarts for the past five years.  
  
Harry looked over his shoulder as he saw Ron and Hermione coming to tell him to hurry up.  
  
'Sorry guys, I got held up helping Emilia here'  
  
'Hermione Granger' said the wild haired teen, extending her hand to the new girl.  
  
'Emilia Stewart, but my friends all called me Em' she replied, shaking Hermione's hand, then Ron's.  
  
'Would you like to sit with us on the train ?' asked Ron, trying to be friendly.  
  
'Would you mind ?'  
  
'Not at all' said Hermione, turning towards the train.  
  
'Thanks'  
  
The four students boarded the train, found an empty compartment and sat down. Soon they were whizzing through lucious countryside.  
  
Then at the door, appeared another fourth year, whom the others evidently hada certain dislike for.  
  
'Potter, Weasel, Mudblood' he greeted the familiar faces in his usual manner.  
  
'Sod off Malfoy' retorted Ron, trying to get rid of him before he was tempted to do something he might regret.  
  
'And who's this ? Another addition to the Geek Squad ?'  
  
Emilia eyed him up angrily.  
  
'This is Emilia, she's a transfer' said Harry, through gritted teeth.  
  
'Draco Malfoy' he drawled, as usual.  
  
'Emilia Stewart' she noticed that Malfoy's gaze had dropped from her face to her long legs, which at the moment were just covered enought by the tight black skirt she was wearing. 'Yes, I see you've located my thighs, can you get lost now ?'  
  
Malfoy stsalked off indignantly.  
  
'Way to get rid of Malfoy' laughed Ron, giving Em a high five.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Twenty minutes, although it seemed like twenty hours later, the train came to a halt, and everybody got off.  
  
'First yer's and transfers this way' boomed a loud voice at the end of the platform.  
  
'Good luck with the sorting' Hermione gave Emilia a reassuring pat on the shoulder.  
  
She made her way over to the excited first years. Amongst which, she looked very out of place. Then, herslef and two other children ended up in a little boat together, crossing a huge lake, with the Hogwarts castle looming in front of them.  
  
'Mind yer heads' shouted Hagrid.  
  
Shortly after that, the boats stopped, and the first years poured out.  
  
A huge hand was offered to Em, it was Hagrid's, he helped the leggy teen to her feet from the tiny boat.  
  
'You must be the new transfer girl..Miss.um'  
  
'Stewart' Emilia finished for him.  
  
'Yeah that's it.you best be getting inside, or the sorting'll start without yer'  
  
Emilia smiled politely and ran up the steps, where she caught up with first years.  
  
An older woman, obviously a professor, was tapping her nails impatiently on the stone banister.  
  
'Welcome to Hogwarts' she began '.soon you will walk through these doors and join your classmates, you will then be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.'  
  
She walked away.  
  
The children began to chatter. Minutes later, the professor returned.  
  
'They're ready for you now'  
  
The giant doors swung open to reveal the biggest room Emilia had ever seen. There were thousands upon thousands of candles floating about ten feet above her head and the ceiling looked like a star-studded night sky.  
  
Emilia looked up and herself in awe. She could feel eyes looking at her because she was bigger than the other kids.  
  
They were brought to a halt at the front of the hall, and the thin professor opened her mouth.  
  
'Before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words.'  
  
When she finished, a wise-looking wizard stood up and announced, in a gravely voice.  
  
'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, and welcome to our new sixth year, Miss Stewart.'  
  
Emilia blushed.  
  
'I also remind everyone, that the third floor corridor is off limits to all students who do not wish to die a most painful death, Thank you'  
  
The first years looked horrified.  
  
'Now when I call your name, you will come forth, I will place the sorting hat upon your head, and you will be sorted into your house'  
  
There was a pause and a sharp intake of breath by some first years.  
  
'Emilia Stewart'  
  
Em sighed, and walked to the battered hat, and as she turned around to face the entire school, there was a loud wolf-whistle, we don't know who from, but we don't really care.  
  
Anyway, the hat was put on her head, it frowned and started to speak.  
  
'Hmm.you lack the cunning for Slytherin, but I see you're loyal, smart as a whip too, quite the risk-taker too, I see, where to put you though ? Hmmm..I know..GRYFFINDOR !'  
  
The last word ran out with air of relief and one fo the tables to Emilia's right erupted into waves of cheering, she hopped off the chair towards it, where Hermione beckoned for her to sit.  
  
After the ceremony, there was the feast. Emilia was introduced to fellow sixth years, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet.  
  
Then Ron introduced Fred and George, he told Em' to 'watch out for those two, they to joke about, a lot.'  
  
She just smiled at them, and turned her head around to look at the other tables. While looking at the Hufflepuff table, her eye was caught by a particularly handsome boy about her age. Nudging Hermione, she asked ;  
  
'Who's he ?'  
  
Looking over her shoulder, Hermione answered.  
  
'That's Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain.'  
  
'Really ?' murmured Em' still lokking at Cedric.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Over at the Hufflepuff table, Cedric could just tell he was being watched, he turned slightly and noticed that the new transfer girl was gazing at him. He looked at the floor sheepishly, licked his top lip, winked at the girl and turned back to his meal.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
'Oh' said Emilia 'I can tell I'm going to like it here'  
  
*-*FIN*-*  
  
I apologise for the number of times Emilia's name was mentioned, but thats what you get when people are getting introduced and stuff. 


	3. Trial and Triumph

Innocent Words  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Three: Trial and Triumph  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The weeks were passing slowly, but Emilia wasn't complaining. She had actually managed to make friends with the Weasley twins without being made to 'test' one of the concoctions, which, according to Ron, was some feat.  
  
One day, when Em was rushing to Charms, because she was going to be late, not that Professor Flitwick minded too much. She wasn't watching where she was going until it was too late.  
  
~WHAM !~  
  
She went straight into someone, or something, she fell backwards to the floor and for a second everything went black.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next thing she remembered was a voice saying: 'Hello? Can you hear me?' Groggily, she opened an eye and looked up at the face in front of her, it was Cedric.  
  
'Oh my god. I'm sorry. I didn't see you coming, are you all right?' she said, sitting up.  
  
'I'm fine, you're the one who blacked out' he replied, smiling.  
  
'Did I?' There was a pause.'Oh shit, I'm late for class'  
  
'It's Ok, I told Professor Flitwick you'd had an accident and that I was going to take you to the hospital wing'  
  
'Thank you' whispered Emilia  
  
Cedric helped her to her feet, she stumbled a little, but he gallantly her in his arms. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before Cedric swept her up in his arms. Em squeaked in surprise, but agreed to the strong grip on her shoulders and knees.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
An hour later in the hospital wing, Emilia was feeling much better. She had been lying down, so when she got up, she saw that Cedric was in front of her, nursing a black eye.  
  
Em clasped her hands to her mouth and giggled.  
  
'Oh, I'm sorry, it's not funny. Are you Ok?'  
  
'Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a little bruise.'  
  
The two looked at each other silently for a moment, then they burst into fits of laughter.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After they left the hospital wing, Cedric and Emilia went to the Great Hall for lunch; they sat together at the Gryffindor table, gaining some raised eyebrows from the fifth and first years.  
  
They chattered together and learned a great deal about each other. Emilia learned that Cedric was going to put himself forward for the Tri- Wizard Tournament, and Cedric learned that Emilia was going to have trials for Puddlemere United at Halloween.  
  
'Well, I best be getting back, I have Potions in ten minutes' sighed Cedric  
  
'I don't have anything for two hours yet' mused Emilia, nibbling on a cracker.  
  
'I'll walk you to your tower'  
  
'Oh no, you don't have to'  
  
'It's on my way to the dungeons'  
  
'Ok, you win' sighed Emilia, in defeat.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A few minutes later, they were outside the Gryffindor tower.  
  
'I'll see you later, yeah?'  
  
'Yeah'  
  
There was a silent moment between the pair, then Cedric leant in and kissed her softly on the lips. He winked at her.  
  
'See you' said Cedric, and he walked away and Emilia was left standing there, breathing heavily as if the wind had been knocked out of her, and it had.  
  
The sane part of her said 'go into the tower and calm down'. Her heart told her to run after him.  
  
She turned to the Fat Lady's portrait, muttered the password and ran up to the common room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Halloween cam very quickly after that, or so it seemed to anyway. The Puddlemere coach Mr. Griff arrived at 6pm that night for em's trial at 6 :30pm.  
  
Back in the Gryffindor tower, Emilia was very nervous but Katie, Angelina and Alicia were reassuring her.  
  
'You'll be fine' chirped Katie  
  
'I hope so' said Emilia, wringing her hands in her lap.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
At 6: 30pm, Emilia walked down to the Quidditch field. Unsure of who she looking for, Em looked around her, until she spotted a well built man of around 50, a few rows back in the stands.  
  
When he saw her standing at the edge of the field with her broom in hand looking a little uneasy, he figured this was his girl. Stepping onto the field, he extended his hand to the girl.  
  
'Miss Stewart I presume'  
  
'Mr Griff' replied Em, shaking his hand politely.  
  
He nodded and clapped his hands together.  
  
'Right, what position can you play?'  
  
'I'm going to be playing Keeper for my house team next year, but I can play Seeker'  
  
Griff's eyes flashed with excitement when he heard this.  
  
'Seeker, you say? We're actually looking for a new Seeker before the season starts'  
  
There was a brief silence.  
  
'Right, I'm going release the Snitch and then you are going to go up ten seconds later Ok?'  
  
'Ok' said Emilia, mounting her broom, ready for action  
  
The Snitch was released and flew up into the glare of the early evening sun. Ten seconds later, as instructed, Emilia flew off in search of the golden ball at breakneck speed.  
  
Griff's hand was over his mouth, a stubby finger fondling his bushy moustache.  
  
Emilia was hovering slowly around the goals when the Snitch flashed in front of her eyes, and she went after it, like a bat out of hell.  
  
She had to barrel roll to avoid a bludger Griff had set loose, but kept her eyes firmly on the Snitch. It changed direction suddenly, and Em would have surely missed it, if she hadn't stuck her arm out and caught it easily.  
  
As she landed, Mr Griff ran up to her, applauding her furiously.  
  
'That was bloody brilliant that was'  
  
Emilia blushed and looked down at the floor.  
  
'I want to sign you straight away'  
  
Em's eyes went really wide.  
  
'Seriously? You really want me to play for you?'  
  
'Yes, I'm deadly serious'  
  
'Oh my god, thank you so much!' squealed Emilia, shaking the coach's hand until he thought it would fall off.  
  
'I gotta go tell my friends.um, thanks' she beamed, turning back towards the Gryffindor tower, thinking of the ways she could tell people. She decided on the 'I-didn't-get-the-job-but-I-really-did' guise, it was the most fun.  
  
She tried to put on a sad face for the act, which was very hard to do. She muttered the password again and walked solemnly up to the common room.  
  
Hermione, Ron, Harry, Katie, Alicia, Angelina (who was busy snogging Fred in one corner ^_~) and George were waiting for her.  
  
Noticing the solemn look on her face, they all murmured 'Sorry' and 'better luck next time'.  
  
Suddenly she broke into a broad grin and squealed.  
  
'He signed me straight away!'  
  
The girls all jumped up and hugged her and the boys shook her hand. There was a murmur of 'lucky bitch' from somewhere, but she didn't know who.  
  
Emilia Stewart's professional Quidditch career had begun.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
That's it for chapter three, I'll try to keep putting up a chapter per week.  
  
-Captain Cornflake-  
  
PS: Please R&R, I have low self esteem. 


	4. The Meeting

Innocent Word's  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Four: The Meeting  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: Thanks to the three people who reviewed the first three chapters, I appreciate it. By the way, WaNdA, Emilia is intended in no way to be Mary-Sue; In fact, she's nothing like me. Check out my profile if you don't believe me. I'm not offended, it's just that's not what I was aiming for.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Just over a week after her on the spot signing to Puddlemere United, Emilia was still walking on air. She received an owl from Mr Griff on the 9th of November, informing her that she was to have a tour of the stadium and meet the rest of the team. Needless to say, she was excited.  
  
Her school life continued as normal, as did her extremely friendly (wink wink) relationship with Cedric.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Cedric had been picked as one of the Hogwarts champions for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Controversially however, Harry had been picked too, causing a slight uproar from Madame Maxime and Professor Karakoff.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A few days later, Madam Hooch, who was excited that a sixth-year student had been signed to such a well-known team, escorted Emilia to the Puddlemere Stadium.  
  
Em was left at the ground's reception where a stern looking secretary sent a very timid house-elf to inform Mr Griff of her arrival.  
  
Moments later, the elf returned and the secretary said:  
  
' Mr Griff will see you now'  
  
'Could you tell me where his.'  
  
'Fourth door on your left' snapped the secretary.  
  
'Oh.k' mumbled Emilia, walking away.  
  
When she had counted four doors down the left hand side of the huge corridor the secretary had pointed her down, Emilia found what she was looking for, a door with a shining plaque on it saying; 'Manager's Office'.  
  
'Well duh.' thought Emilia to herself, knocking on the door, then entering.  
  
When Griff saw her, he smiled, and motioned for her to sit down so he could say something.  
  
'Well, now that you're here, you can sign your contract and officially join the squad'  
  
He handed a piece of parchment to her, which she pored over with keen brown eyes.  
  
Nodding, Griff handed her a quill and a pot of ink and she signed on the dotted line.  
  
'Right; now I'll take you to meet your teammates. The lads have been having a little pre-season training session'  
  
As Mr Griff lead her towards the changing rooms, Emilia realised the real size of the stadium compared to the field at school.  
  
When they stopped at the changing rooms, Em could hear showers running, which obviously meant that the lads had finished their training session.  
  
'Listen up lads!' Griff shouted above the chatter in the room 'I want you all to meet our new seeker'  
  
There was a wave of voices shouting 'Ok!' and one said ' We'll be there in a minute coach!'  
  
'I'll leave you to introduce yourself' said mr Griff, slapping Emilia on the shoulder, and heading back towards his office.  
  
The showers were turned off, and the sound pf the guys pulling their clothes on could be heard.  
  
Then it dissolved into friendly banter, which sounded like someone's shoe was being passed around.  
  
Then there was someone shouting 'Hey!' and a shoe came flying over the top of the lockers and landed right at Emilia's feet.  
  
She bent down to pick it up and hand it back to it's owner, but when she did, she cam almost nose to nose with a topless young man.  
  
He immediately looked embarrassed, but brushed it off by flashing an extremely sexy smile at her.  
  
He straightened up, as did Emilia and shouted to the others.  
  
'Cover up lads, there's a lady present'  
  
'Aye, aye captain' said one of the other guys as he came around the corner. 'Ey up, this must be the new Seeker, I'm Ben Simpson' he extended his hand.  
  
Smiling nervously, Emilia shook Ben's hand and replied:  
  
'Yes I'm the new Seeker, and my name's Emilia Stewart, you can call me Em'  
  
'Oliver Wood' said the lad that Emilia had first met.  
  
She shook his hand and for the first time she took in how handsome he was. He had light brown hair and puppy dog eyes, and a smile that could make you knees melt to jelly.  
  
Oliver introduced the other four guys as Will Freeman, a Chaser, Sam LeClerc, a Beater, Ian Knox, the other Beater and Jason Williams, a Chaser.  
  
'.and I'm the Keeper, and Ben here is out third Chaser'  
  
'Very pleased to meet you all' murmured Emilia, blushing slightly  
  
'Is anyone else going to the canteen, I'm parched!' announced Ian, a tall blond lad of about twenty.  
  
'I know I am' replied Will.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The group ran upstairs to the teams little eating area, where it was deemed that they would interrogate Emilia to find out everything about her.  
  
'So, how old are you?' asked Jason  
  
'I'm sixteen'  
  
'Still at school?' butted in Will.  
  
'Yep, it's my first year at Hogwarts'  
  
'First year? But- oh, I get it, you're a transfer' laughed Oliver.  
  
'How'd you fare with the sorting?' asked Sam, who obviously wasn't local.  
  
'I was put in Gryffindor thank god'  
  
'I was Gryffindor' squealed Oliver. 'I used to play Keeper for the house team'  
  
'Funny you should say that, I'm going to play Keeper for the house next year'  
  
'Ah, you're my successor then.' said Oliver, raising his eyebrows.  
  
'Yeah I guess I am' Emilia smiled, trying her best to look smoulderingly sexy.  
  
Right then it was obvious there was a certain chemistry between them.  
  
After an hour's questioning by the lads, Mr Griff appeared with Emilia's new robes in hand.  
  
'Thanks a lots, sir.' she stammered, placing the navy blue robes carefully in her bag.  
  
Turning to her new team-mates, she said:  
  
'Thanks for the introduction you guys, but I have to go, I have classes in the morning'  
  
There was a round of goodbyes, handshakes and even two kisses on the cheek from Oliver and Ben.  
  
'Bye' she waved, heading towards the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
When she got outside, Em saw that a smiling Cedric was there to take her back to school.  
  
'I'm so proud of you' he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was almost 9pm when Emilia arrived back in the Gryffindor common room, despite spending ten minutes snogging the face off Cedric in the Astronomy tower.  
  
Hermione was engrossed in her Herbology homework, but she did see Em come in.  
  
'So, how was it?'  
  
' How was it? How was it? It was bloody brilliant, the rest of the team are all guys' squealed Emilia  
  
'So you like it then?' laughed Hermione, dipping her quill in her inkpot.  
  
'Oh yeah, and I met one of THE sexiest Quidditch players alive' ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ TO BE CONTINUED.. A/N: I apologise for the short-ness of the chapters, and PuddlemereChaser, I didn't use the same team names as you for two reasons, One: I didn't want my fic to be THAT similar to yours, and two: I couldn't remember them all when I wrote this.  
  
-Captain Cornflake 


	5. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster Extraordina...

Innocent Word's  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Five: Dumbledore, Headmaster Extraordinaire..  
  
/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /  
  
A/N: this chapter was definitely not intended to be written until I heard that Richard Harris had died yesterday.(25/10/02). My sympathies go out to his family and fans.  
  
/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /  
  
Professor Albus Dumbledore was, as Hagrid had had so well described him, the best headmaster Hogwarts had seen these many long years, but he was ageing fast, he was old, and very tired, although he never let it show in front of his staff. He always tried his best to keep a strong face in the presence of the pupils.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
It was the beginning of the end for him at the beginning of Harry Potter's fourth year, just after the names had been drawn for the Tri-Wizard Tournament.  
  
As he sat down in his throne-like chair, which still seemed a bit over the top for him, Dumbledore, for the first time in his life, was really in agony. It felt like Voldemort himself was trying to rip his heart out and laugh at him while he was doing it.  
  
Professor McGonagall looked at her superior, and noticing the pained expression on his face, asked him:  
  
'Albus, are you alright?'  
  
He took a deep breath and sank into his seat, sweating and looking a little frightened.  
  
'Yes Minerva, I'm Ok'  
  
The Gryffindor head of house looked worried and suspicious, like he wasn't telling her something.  
  
/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /  
  
A few weeks passed by, Dumbledore was in his office writing a lengthy letter to an old friend of his, when there was that same agonising pain again, but this time he couldn't ignore it, it was getting steadily worse, more burning, and there was a tingling in his left arm.  
  
He tried taking deeper breaths to steady himself, but it wasn't working, he was forced to sit down, holding his heart, and closing his eyes.  
  
There was a sudden cold sweeping over him, and right then, it was obvious that there was something desperately wrong.  
  
/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /  
  
Professor McGonagall was teaching a class of first year Ravenclaw and Gryffindor's, when like a sixth sense, a pang of worry echoed through her entire body.  
  
'Excuse me class.' she muttered, racing out of the classroom and towards Dumbledore's office. Snape had obviously had the same thought as she met him on her way there.  
  
The password to Dumbledore's office, as it had been for his entire time there was 'Lemon drop'(A/n: I don't actually know what the password was I just figured this would be a good one as they are his fave sweet), the two worried teachers ran up the stone steps to Albus' office and burst through the door, only to find his limp and lifeless body slumped over the parchment he had been writing on.  
  
McGonagall clasped her hands tightly over her mouth and let out a gasp of terror and surprise. Snape walked to Dumbledore's desk and checked for a sign of life. There was none.  
  
'He's dead' Severus announced in a tear-tinged tone.  
  
Professor McGonagall burst into a waterfall of tears, which went cascading down onto Snape's shoulders when he pulled her into a sympathetic hug.  
  
When she pulled away, Snape looked in her eyes with a sincerity that none of the other staff had ever seen, ever.  
  
'Minerva, Dumbledore's dead, that means that you're in charge.'  
  
For the first time, it really hit home that he was dead.  
  
Hogwarts had lost Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster Extraordinaire..  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
A/n: Sorry it was so short. 


	6. First Game, First Date

Innocent Words  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Six: First Date  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
I do not own any of the song titles mentioned in this chapter either. :p  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After meeting the rest of the team and signing her contract, Emilia barely had any time to herself anymore.  
  
Cedric could see it was getting her frustrated, that she couldn't see him as often as she liked. So, after much consideration, the two split up.  
  
After that, Emilia was very down for days, she wasn't trying very hard in lesson, she wasn't even truly happy in team practice.  
  
Finally Oliver plucked up the courage to ask her what was up.  
  
The team was in the canteen, after practice, where Em had asked to be left alone.  
  
The other lads were sitting near the window that over-looked the field. Em could hear them whispering, conspiring about something, and to add to that, they were making sneaky looks in her direction.  
  
Wood got up and walked gingerly over to her, then sat down, forcing her to look up into his face. He could see she'd been crying.  
  
'What's wrong?' he asked.  
  
'I just split up with my boyfriend, how do you think I feel?'  
  
'Ok, I'm sorry, I- we, I mean, we're worried about you'  
  
'I'm fine, I'm just a little tired and down, that's all'  
  
'Ok.well um, if you wanna talk, I'm here you know' he stood up.  
  
To his surprise, Em just jumped up out of her seat, and wrapped her arms around his ribcage and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back and she cried into his chest.  
  
The five players on the other table looked at Oliver with a suspicious look on their faces, and he just looked back at them and shrugged his shoulders.  
  
'Ssh, Ssh, shh' he whispered into her hair.  
  
One of his hands was wrapped around her waist, and the other one was entangled in her silky soft black hair.  
  
He waved his hand and motioned for the other guys to leave.  
  
Oliver pulled her out of the hug and sat her down in her seat. He sat opposite her and held her hand tightly.  
  
She looked up at him with tear filled eyes and whispered.  
  
'I'm sorry, I'm being stupid'  
  
'No, no, no, you're upset, it's Ok.'  
  
She sniffed and wiped her reddened eyes.  
  
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, as if he was contemplating something.  
  
'I know this isn't the most appropriate time to say this, but..'  
  
'What?' she sniffled.  
  
'I um, I-uh' he stammered 'I really, really like you'  
  
'Really?' Em blinked a few times in surprise  
  
'Yeah, you're smart, funny, amazing on the field, and dare I say it, sexy'  
  
She looked at him with an almost blank expression, mixed with a little surprise too.  
  
A tiny smile worked its way on to her lips, which cheered Oliver up no end.  
  
Just outside the door, the others were earwigging in, and constantly Ssh ing each other.  
  
The two got up from their seats and outside, the others fell completely silent, apart from their shallow breathing, to see if they could hear anything going on.  
  
When both Oliver and Emilia were standing, they were less then eight inched apart. Em could feel his minty breath fanning strands of hair away from her face.  
  
'I meant it you know'  
  
'What?'  
  
'When I said I liked you, I meant it'  
  
There was a look in his eyes that she had only seen once before, that first time Cedric kissed her.  
  
He snaked one of his hands around her waist and she put her right hand behind his head, pulled his head into her face and kissed him, long and hard.  
  
When they parted, both of them were breathing very fast, there was a silent moment where Oliver and Emilia just stared into each other's eyes, then the five lads outside the door broke into a round of whoops and cheers.  
  
Emilia just looked at the floor and blushed a deep shade of crimson, Oliver looked annoyed that they'd been watching, but broke into a small grin and wrapped his arms around Em's shoulders and she rested her head on his chest.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The following day when Emilia returned to school, she could tell something bad had happened.  
  
She noticed that Professor McGonagall was walking around with her head bowed extremely low, so that gave the mood away.  
  
At breakfast, Em noticed that Dumbledore's seat at the teacher's table was empty, which caused a bit of confusion among the students, but all the tables noticed that all the teachers were dressed in black.  
  
McGonagall tapped on her goblet, causing the entire hall to fall silent.  
  
She rose from her seat, he hands clasped tightly together at her waist, she inhaled deeply and announced:  
  
'I regret to announce that Professor Dumbledore died yesterday afternoon'  
  
There was a hushed shock echoing around the room, and McGonagall continued.  
  
'As a mark of respect, classes are suspended for the rest of the week.'  
  
Everyone in the room was shell-shocked, they knew he was old, but no one saw this coming, many people were silently crying, Hagrid wasn't holding anything back, he was crying like there was no tomorrow.  
  
The Gryffindor table was the most subdued, with even Hermione crying on Ron's shoulder.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The school spent the next three days in a more than sombre mood.  
  
When Em went to the final training session before the beginning of the season, Oliver pulled her into a strong hug, which they both savoured for a long time.  
  
They only parted when Will shouted:  
  
'Oi, break it up, we've got a game tomorrow we need to train for'  
  
The team pulled on their protective pads over their clothes and headed out onto the field, where they practiced vigorously for a few hours, until everyone was practically falling off their brooms.  
  
After showering, the group was brought together at a table in the canteen and Sam announced.  
  
'Right, the first game is a big one, it's the Chudley Cannons.'  
  
The entire team sighed nervously.  
  
'But we can do it, we will win'  
  
'Yeah!' everyone cheered, with high hopes for the next day's game.  
  
After that encouraging speech from Sam, Em realised that technically, it was up to her to win the game.  
  
When they had finished chattering, they all got ready to leave. Oliver pulled Emilia to one side and blurted out:  
  
'Will you go out with me tomorrow night after the game?'  
  
'Um, yeah sure' smiled Emilia  
  
'Ok, I'll uh, see you tomorrow then' said Wood, winking and walking away.  
  
He silently pinched himself to make sure he had just done that.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The following hours between that moment and 10am the next morning flew by. The only thing Em actually remembered after leaving the ground was waking up in a cold sweat at 4am, which did her nerves no good whatsoever.  
  
She arrived at the stadium early, at 9:30am for the 12:30pm kick off.  
  
When the changing room doors swung open, the four other guys who had beaten her there broke into a cheer.  
  
Em just put her bag on the bench, sat down and sighed heavily.  
  
'What's up?' asked Will 'This is my first game in six months, it's my professional debut and we're playing last years league champions, I'm a little nervous'  
  
'What've you got to be nervous about?' inquired Ian.  
  
'What if I screw up, I'd be letting u guys down'  
  
'You won't screw up, we've got faith in you, and plus, mr Griff wouldn't have signed you if you couldn't win us games' said Oliver, striding into the room.  
  
'Hiya hun' smiled Emilia, cheering up instantly.  
  
'Did you just call me hun?' he laughed, raising an eyebrow.  
  
'Yes I did' replied Em, standing up and hugging him and giving him a peck on the lips too.  
  
'Right team, let's get our game faces on, this is serious, it's the first game of the season, let's start as we mean to go on.' said Sam, pulling on his arm pads.  
  
The rest of the players just nodded and returned to pulling on their robes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was nearing 12:30pm now and everyone was getting really nervous, even Oliver.  
  
The crowds could be heard, cheering and chanting outside in the stands.  
  
The commentator was announcing the teams, and a cheer was going up after each name.  
  
'.playing Keeper for Puddlemere, Oliver Wood!'  
  
The crowd went nuts so they obviously liked him.  
  
'..and playing Seeker for the home side, sixteen year old new signing, Emilia Stewart!'  
  
The crowd went wild again, Em blushed and grinned broadly.  
  
The team exited the changing rooms and made their way down the dimly lit tunnel that led to the field.  
  
The seven players remained silent, until the door in front of them rose up and Ian shouted:  
  
'Let's do this'  
  
They mounted their brooms and flew out onto the field, where the orange- clad Cannons were already warming up.  
  
The teams got into their starting positions and a short foreign looking referee brought the chest containing the balls onto the field.  
  
He announced:  
  
'Play hard, play clean'  
  
And with that, he kicked the chest, sending the two Bludgers and the Snitch flying up into the air.  
  
The referee took the Quaffle in his bony hands, threw it up into the air and the game began  
  
Will immediately beat off Cannon's chaser Finch for possession, he went flying down the centre of the field, evading all attempts to have the Quaffle stolen from him. He scored easily. 10-0 to Puddlemere.  
  
Ian was on the tail of the Cannon's Chaser Robert Green, aiming to hit a passing Bludger at his head, but unfortunately he missed, and Green scored, much to Oliver's dismay. 10-10 each.  
  
Emilia hadn't seen them, but Ron, Hermione, Harry, Alicia, Katie, Angelina, Fred and George were in the stands, cheering her on.  
  
The score was soaring at both ends, Oliver was making some good saves, but the Cannon's were still getting points.  
  
By the time Em snapped back to reality, Puddlemere were winning, just. The score 80-60 Puddlemere's way.  
  
Then, like a miracle, the blessed Snitch circled Emilia's head and she screamed away after it.  
  
The opposition Seeker, Paul Rush caught on to her and pursued with a passion.  
  
The two Seekers ended up flying towards each other, and it looked, for a moment, like they were going to collide, but at the last minute, Emilia reached out, snatched at the air, and dived underneath her oncoming foe. This movie gained a gasp of relief from the crowd.  
  
The stands went crazy; Em slowed down and opened her hand.  
  
'Ho- ho- holy shit!' There was the Snitch, glowing like the sun in her open palm.  
  
The referee blew his whistle and shouted:  
  
'Puddlemere Wins!'  
  
230-60 (What a score on your debut game!) The stands erupted into an endless scream, and the rest of the team dived towards Emilia, dismounted their brooms and twelve strong arms were flung around her.  
  
She was then hoisted onto Jason's shoulders and carried off the field.  
  
'See, I told you you wouldn't screw up!'  
  
'I know, I know'  
  
After much congratulating and cheering, they changed and headed out.  
  
Emilia got herself really dressed up, because she had something to celebrate.  
  
She met the rest of the team in the ground's reception area, and when she appeared in front of them, they had to do a double take to make sure it was the same girl they saw on the field.  
  
She was wearing a tight, mid-thigh length, blue denim skirt, a black halter neck top, black knee-high boots and an ankle length black leather jacket. Her hair was up in a claw clip, with a few strands hanging in loose curls around her face.  
  
The only word the guys could utter was 'Whoa!'. They could believe someone could go from looking an innocent little girl to a sexy young woman in a few hours.  
  
The group decided to go to a new club that had opened up in a nearby town.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
When they had got into 'Twisters', as it had been called, they ordered a round of Butterbeers and sat at a large round table near the dance floor where they were playing many muggle love, rock and pop songs, including: 'When a man loves a woman', 'I got you babe', 'Can't help falling in love', 'Love is all around', 'I'm a believer', 'Lay all your love on me', 'A million love songs' by Take That, a muggle band that Emilia was particularly fond of, a few of Queen's hits: 'Don't stop me now', 'Crazy little thing called love' and 'We are the champions'.  
  
Oliver had never heard of these songs or their singers before, but her didn't care because the lyrics seemed to be trying to tell him something.  
  
Then it came to him, Emilia may be his only chance for true love.  
  
He looked at her, dancing away with Will and Ian on the dance floor, wondering whether he should go with his gut instinct or not.  
  
He swallowed his fears and filtered through the crowd.  
  
'Hey, you decided to join us' she shouted over the music  
  
'Yeah, hey can I have this next dance?'  
  
Emilia looked a little puzzled, but let him lead her to the middle of the dance floor as a nice, slow ballad started playing.  
  
She wrapped her arms around his waist and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, she rested her head on chest and sighed in contentment. Oliver kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes and just lost himself in the moment.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	7. Soundtrack

Innocent Words  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Seven: Chapter Themes  
  
DISCLAIMER  
  
I do not own Harry Potter or any of the mentioned tracks.  
  
------------------------ ----------------------- --------------------- ----- ----------- ---------  
  
A/N; I know this is pointless and should be done at the end, but I wanted to post this now, I decided on a few songs to be played in the background for a few chapters, and then decided to have themes for each chapter.  
  
--------------------- -------------------- ----------------- -------------- ------------- ----------  
  
ACT I  
  
Prologue: Armageddon Piano by Trevor Rabin  
  
First Day: Carnaval De Paris by Dario G/Crossroads by Blazin' Squad  
  
Trial and Triumph: Mister Big Time by Jon Bon Jovi  
  
The Meeting: Deep Impact Theme  
  
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster Extraordinaire (From the point where he actually dies): December 7th(Pearl Harbour Ost)(From 2mins 21seconds onwards)  
  
First Date: (Songs mentioned in chapter plus) And Then I Kissed Him (Pearl Harbour OST)/ Nessaja by Scooter/ She Hates Me by Puddle of Mudd (Cedric's Theme) The Quidditch Match by John Williams (Game theme)  
  
Yule Ball: Dancing In The Moonlight by Toploader/ Let's Get it On by Marvin Gaye/Celebrity Skin by Hole  
  
I Love You: Be With Me by Mis-teeq/ Natural by S Club 7/ Can't Fight The Moonlight by Leann Rimes  
  
The Plan: Meet The Team by Trevor Rabin  
  
Q.A Cup Final: Bad Man by Trevor Rabin/My Boy Lollipop by Millie Small/ Shake Your Booty by KC and The Sunshine Band  
  
Romance Revealed: Insatiable by Darren Hayes/Isengard Unleashed By Howard Shore(Up tp 00:44)  
  
Confession: Children(Dreams Remix) by Robert Miles  
  
Summer Break: Leaving Hogwarts by John Williams/ School's Out by Alice Cooper/ Smooth by Carlos Santana  
  
ACT II  
  
Final Year: Foundations Of Stone(Up to 1:41)/Taming Of Smeagol(Up To 1:46)/The Riders Of Rohan(From 2:22-3:31)/Introducing Colin By John Williams  
  
Too Late: Brothers by Hans Zimmer/ The King Of The Golden Hall by Howard Shore( Up to 1:51)  
  
Gryffindor vs. Slytherin: The Uruk-Hai by Howard Shore/ Forth Eorlingas by Howard Shore  
  
Sabotage: Points Of Authority by Linkin Park/The Bridge of Khazad-dum by Howard Shore(3:36 onwards)/ Fawkes Is Reborn By Howard Shore  
  
Tragedy: Back Here by BBMak  
  
Coming To Terms: Everything I Do by Bryan Adams  
  
Months Later/Graduation: Reunion Of Friends by John Williams/ Don't Stop Me Now by Queen  
  
I Do: Evenstar by Howard Shore /A Wedding March from 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' by Mendelssohn  
  
Good Luck Ever After: Samwise The Brave by Howard Shore  
  
ACT III  
  
Hawaiian Heaven: Romantic Hawaii by Cusco/ Kano hula hula by Vazelina Bilopphoggers/Tropical Breeze by Hoku  
  
Back to Work: Are you ready for this? From the Space Jam Soundtrack/Austin Powers from Jock Jams 99'/Music from the National Finals in Bring It On.  
  
The Next Generation: Knockturn Alley by John Williams/ Tennessee by Hans Zimmer/Great Escape Theme by Elmer Bernstein  
  
Trial: Boost Me by Trevor Rabin/Crossroads Instrumental by Bone Thugs n Harmony  
  
Untrue Nightmare: Stronger by the Sugababes/Riverdance Finale from Riverdance.  
  
Merry Christmas, Everyone: Magic Moments by Perry Como/My Wild Irish Rose from Riverdance/I'm Dreaming of A White Christmas.  
  
Reliving the Horror: Love In Slow Motion by The Planets  
  
Happier Times: Make Luv by Room 5(if you're from the uk, you might know this one from the lynx deodorant adverts)/All The Small Things by Blink 182  
  
In The Summer time, When The Weather is Fine: Can You Dig It? By the Mock Turtles  
  
First In Line: Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen/You're Having My Baby by Paul Anka  
  
Location Confirmation: Jackass Movie Theme(Opening Credits)/Hope Overture by Clint Mansell  
  
At The Falls: I Will Come Back by Hans Zimmer/BBC World Cup Theme 1998  
  
Almost There: Going Home (theme of the local hero) by Mark Knopfler  
  
Tension Like A Knife: Gothic Power by Christopher Fields/Dance of The Knights by Prokofiev/Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky  
  
Face Off: Reclame (The Uefa Champions League Theme)/War by Hans Zimmer  
  
On Home Ground: I Want Candy by Good Charlotte/Crazy Instrumental by Britney Spears/Keys to Eleanor by Trevor Rabin.  
ACT IV  
  
Second Time Lucky: Concerning Hobbits by Howard Shore  
  
An Heir To The Legacy: True Colours by Nas  
  
Preparing For A New Start: I Wanna Rock by Twister Sister/ Flight To The Ford by Howard Shore  
  
Terrible Accident: The Hornburg Requiem For A Dream Theme(aka Two Towers Trailer Music)(Full 6:36 version)(Game Theme)/Amon Hen by Howard Shore( up to 1:37)  
  
Innocent Words: Wherever You Will Go by The Calling/ Samba Pa Ti by Santana  
  
The Reunion/Bitter Tears: Helm's Deep by Howard Shore The Breaking of the Fellowship(In Dreams) by Howard Shore-Edward Ross  
  
Tragic Reflection: Remember Me by Journey/ Breath Of Life By Howard Shore (Up to 4:00)  
  
One Year On: Unchained Melody(Piano Instrumental)/More Than A Feeling by Boston/Stand By Me by Ben E King/ Centrefold by J. Geils Band  
  
Ben's Beginning: May it Be by Enya/ Piano in The Dark by John Tesh and Gerald Albright  
  
Epilogue: Local Hero(Acoustic Version) by Mark Knopfler OR Local Hero, as heard on 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- 


	8. Yule Ball

Innocent Words  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Eight: Yule Ball  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*- A/N: I will apologise in advance for the later parts of this chapter, because I swear to god, this is the first sex scene I've ever written, and it probably, and 99% likely will suck! -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-  
  
-Oliver's POV-  
  
December was upon us, and the annual Yule Ball was only two weeks away. Of course Emilia was really excited, and she was really organised too. She had her outfit sorted out, the only thing she hadn't done was to acquire herself a date.  
  
Thankfully for the lads' sake, the whole dress robes thing had been abandoned, and I was hoping I'd be looking for a smart suit this year.  
  
-Normal POV-  
  
Every girl in fourth year or above at Hogwarts was all hyped up about the upcoming Yule Ball.  
  
Many a night was spent in all the dorm rooms experimenting with various hairstyles. All the Gryffindor girls had dates; Angelina was going with Fred, Katie was going with George. Hermione claimed she had a date, but she refused to reveal who it was.  
  
Emilia was torn in two over who to ask. On one hand, there was Cedric, her ex-boyfriend, Quidditch captain, Hogwarts Tri-Wizard Champion, her first love. On the other hand, there was Oliver, her current boyfriend, teammate and all round good laugh.  
  
After much consideration, and much time spent avoiding Cedric, Em decided to go with Oliver, because would feel much more comfortable with him on her arm.  
  
Obviously, Wood was happy that he had been asked to go back to school and meet up with a lot of old friends plus the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students too.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Puddlemere's success in the league continued as well. They only had problems with the Montrose Magpies and The Ballycastle Bats, whose Beaters seemed to have an immense dislike to Emilia, knocking her clean out in a few minutes flat. The others claimed foul and a few penalties were given, but they didn't help.  
  
The season's Christmas break began on December 19th, and the seven first team players got a well-deserved break, finishing for the holiday at 4th.  
  
Alicia ended up inviting Ian to the Ball with her, because she didn't want to ask anyone at school.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
The night of the Ball was upon them, and classes were suspended a few hours early, so everyone could get ready for the evenings festivities.  
  
"Oliver and Ian are supposed to be arriving at 7pm" Emilia mentioned to Alicia as she wrapped a fluffy towel around her dripping wet hair.  
  
All the girls in the spacious dorm room were applying make-up, styling their momentarily unruly hair.  
  
"Do you reckon Fred will like this?" asked Angelina, emerging from the bathroom dressed in a black satin, cowl neck dress, the back of which was trailing the floor, the front was up at her knees, she looked stunning.  
  
"Yeah, I think he will, you look great" smiled Katie, applying another coat of Very berry lip shine.  
  
There was a knock at the door then, and Alicia peered her head out to see who it was. It was Harry.  
  
"Just thought I'd let you know, Oliver and Ian are here"  
  
Alicia smiled, said 'thanks' and shut the door behind her.  
  
"Hey Em, the guys are here!" she shouted.  
  
There was a muffled response from the bathroom and the sound of a zip being pulled up very quickly could be heard.  
  
Emilia rushed out of the bathroom and sat on her bed, pulling on her heeled shoes. She stood up, smoothed out her dress and took a look in the mirror, she sighed nervously and headed towards the door with Alicia in tow.  
  
The two headed down the stairs carefully and slowly, so as not to trip on their dresses.  
  
  
  
-Oliver's POV-  
  
Ian and me were standing in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, reminiscing about our time in the school, when we heard the sound of two pairs of shoes echoing down the stairs from the dormitories.  
  
We fixed out stares on the narrow stairway, hoping that the noise was out dates.  
  
It was them, and they looked absolutely gorgeous, they didn't look like sixteen and seventeen year old girls anymore, they looked like mature young ladies. I had to stop my mouth from falling open in surprise. Especially at Alicia, because I'd known her for so long, I never saw her like that.  
  
Emilia looked stunning though, shy and demure, but beautiful.  
  
-Author POV-  
  
Trying desperately not to trip over their dresses, Emilia and Alicia made their way down to the common room where Ian and Oliver where waiting for them.  
  
Stepping off the last step, the girls smile at their dates and approached them, silently shaking with nerves.  
  
"Wow, you uh, you look great" stammered Oliver, clasping Emilia hand with his now clammy palm.  
  
"Thanks" she murmured.  
  
Even thought she had three-inch heels on, Emilia was still overshadowed by Wood's 6'2" frame.  
  
The happy couples left the Gryffindor tower, and headed towards the Great Hall, where they could hear the joyful sounds of the Weird Sisters floating around. As they drew near the hall, screams of laughter and lots of people talking could be heard.  
  
Upon entering the hall, the group gasped and marvelled at the exquisite and extravagant decorations that adorned the walls and the giant trees that stood behind the teacher's table.  
  
They mingled in with the buzzing crowd, and Emilia managed to catch up with Hermione, who had managed to score a date with Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang champion.  
  
When Krum set his eyes on Em, he smiled and made his way over to her, with Hermione on his arm.  
  
"Hiya Em!" she squealed when she saw her elegantly dressed friend on the arm of the most fanciable Gryffindor guy ever.  
  
"Hi Hermione, you know Oliver don't you?"  
  
"Yeah I do, this is Viktor"  
  
Krum extended his hand.  
  
"I votched your flying at ze veekend, I vas impressed"  
  
"I'm gonna go get some drinks" said Oliver, heading for the table on the other side of the hall.  
  
"Ok, see you in a minute, you were at the match on Sunday?" Emilia answered both speakers.  
  
"Yes I vas, vee 'ave been told to see some English teams vile ve are over here"  
  
Hermione looked up at her bushy eye browed beau, and looked back at Emilia, beaming with pride.  
  
"It vould be an honour to play against you" he continued.  
  
"Ditto"-replied Em, as Oliver returned with two Butterbeers in his hands.  
  
"I'll see you later, yeah?" said Hermione, dragging Krum away for a dance.  
  
"Is everyone else here yet?" mumbled Emilia, sipping on her warming drink.  
  
"Um yeah, I haven't seen Katie though, she's probably making out with George somewhere" laughed Wood, wrapping his arms around her shoulders from behind.  
  
She arched her neck back, resting her head on his collar bone, exposing the creamy, almost brilliant white flesh of her neck, for who cared to look, see.  
  
The two made their way on to the temporary dance floor, where the Hufflepuff table used to be.  
  
McGonagall was seated in the middle of the teachers' table, observing the pupils enjoying themselves. She was amazed at the amount of tension there was between the girls and the boys. Usually, everyone was very relaxed at such an event.  
  
Back on the dance floor, many couples were swaying back and forth to the beautiful and soulful notes that surrounded them.  
  
The evening progressed without a hitch, which kept McGonagall perfectly happy.  
  
At almost 10pm, after many Butterbeers and much more dancing, Oliver whispered in Emilia's ear.  
  
"Let's get out of here"  
  
Hoping not to be noticed, they scurried out of the hall, and back to the Gryffindor tower.  
  
Arriving there, the Fat Lady squinted her eyes at Oliver and exclaimed.  
  
"Mr Wood! I never expected to see you here again"  
  
"Me neither" he replied with a sheepish grin.  
  
"Password?" she prompted Em.  
  
"Oh yeah, Godric"  
  
The portrait swung forward and the pair entered the common room, seating themselves on the sofa nearest to the fire.  
  
They sat a little apart, not looking at each other, until Wood scooted over a bit and grasped her hand tightly.  
  
Finally swallowing the fear that overcame her, Emilia looked up at Oliver. She stared deep into his eyes for a moment, before inching towards him and leaning in for a serious game of tongue tennis.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, they were still practically glued together, hands exploring every inch of each other's bodies, as far as they could.  
  
Glancing at her watch, Emilia pulled back.  
  
"It's ten past ten, we can't stay here much longer"  
  
"Where can we go then?"  
  
Pausing for a moment, Emilia clapped her hands together.  
  
"The dorm room"  
  
His eyes widened a little, realising what she was hinting at.  
  
The two couldn't get up the stairs fast enough. Em hushed Oliver as they reached the 6th year girls dorm room.  
  
Opening the door, slowly and silently, she checked if the coast was clear, and it was. Tiptoeing across the room, the slightly intoxicated couple headed for their target destination with the utmost care not to wake anyone on the lower floors.  
  
Em stopped suddenly, and backtracked to the bed nearest the door, checking that she had seen right.  
  
Lying in the bed, asleep and bathed in moonlight, were Katie and George, looking awfully happy with themselves. Em stifled a laugh and headed back towards her bed, where Oliver stood, hands behind his back, trying to look innocent.  
  
She sat down on the bed and patted the space next to her. He obeyed, sitting down. He placed a quivering hand on her shoulder and said:  
  
"Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"  
  
"Numerous times" she laughed quietly.  
  
His eyes roamed all over her face before he blurted out.  
  
"if you don't wanna, you know-"  
  
She stopped him, placing a fingertip on his lips.  
  
Hooking a finger around the bow tie he was wearing, Emilia pulled him in closer for a long, passionate kiss. While they were kissing, Emilia fumbled around for her wand and put a silencing charm on the bed.  
  
Putting the instrument back on the bedside cabinet, she pulled Wood down on to the bed with her, where hands were exploring every inch, again. Clothes were being pulled off and tossed aside. Oliver was now as he had been when Emilia first met him, topless.  
  
He expertly undid the clasp of her bra, sending the garment flying across the bed.  
  
Their relationship was now developing into much more than either of them imagined it could be.  
  
Emilia imagined Wood as being the kind of guy she could hug, kiss and hold hands with, she never imagined she'd end up having sex with him.  
  
Once again, Oliver's hands were doing most of the work, massaging her naked skin, causing a low, almost silent moan to escape her. This spurred him on even more.  
  
By now, both of them were completely naked and quite sweaty.  
  
They stopped kissing for s moment, looked into each other's eyes asking 'are you sure?' and of course the answer was 'yes'. Inhibitions had been shed, just like their clothes, and they couldn't have been more ready..  
  
A/N: Muah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..I am now holding the end of this chapter to ransom, the price you must pay to ever see it again is.review, a lot!! | | | 


	9. I Love You

Innocent Words

Author: Captain Cornflake

Chapter Nine: I Love You…

/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /

~*DISCLAIMER*~

I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.

/ * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * / * /

The morning after the Yule Ball, many 6th and 7th years woke up with pounding headaches plus the worst hangovers ever.

Thankfully, hangovers were much more easily cured in the wizarding world.

Alicia, when returning to the dorm at 3am, had to stop herself from laughing out loud when she saw who had ended up in bed together. Katie and George, yeah you saw that one coming, but the biggest shock of all though, was Oliver and Emilia.

Sunrise the following day, Emilia woke up and immediately put her hand to her forehead, willing the pounding pain in her head to stop.

Wood stirred next to her, turned over and murmured.

"Morning gorgeous"

He sat up and kissed her shoulders, then wrapped his arms around her elbows and rested his cheek on her head.

"Mmm…geroff" she giggled, wrestling him off her.

He lay back, grinning in defeat.

"Right stud, you have to go now" smiled Em, passing Oliver his discarded trousers.

"I know, I know, can I lend your other broom, just so I don't get seen."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna go out the window"

"What?!? Are you nuts?" she hissed

"No, I've done it before, it's actually quite fun"

"Ok, ok but be careful with it, it's my Nimbus"

"I will, and I'll send it back in one piece"

"Alright, but you better hurry up, before the others get up."

Wood proceeded to hastily pull his clothes on, open the window, mounting Emilia's Nimbus 2000 on the ledge, he held her hand, kissed her on the lips, whispered a quick goodbye, and he was gone.

Emilia sighed, sank back from standing on her toes, holding the edge of the open window. She subconsciously twisted a finger around the strap of the nightdress she had pulled on, as Oliver became a dot on the watery rising sun.

"Did you have fun last night?" called Angelina, pulling her duvet up around her shoulders.

Em spun around on her heels, stared blankly at Angelina for a second and then broke into a blushing smile.

"So, What happened?"

She gave her a look as if to say 'You know what happened'.

Gasping and putting a hand to her mouth, Angelina squealed:

"You didn't!"

Grinning cheekily at her, Em sank back into her bed and sighed…

"Last night was the most incredible night of my life"

They chatted about the previous nights events, until George woke up and scarpered next door to the boys dorm.

8am came, and everyone went to breakfast, all the tables were back in place, disguising the fact that there had been a party there last night.

After breakfast, Emilia decided to go to the library to start her Potions holiday essay.

While browsing through 'Most Potente Potions' and making notes on 'Polyjuice Potion: Friend or Foe?', a familiar figure sat down across from her.

"Starting already?" he asked

"Yep, I've got nothing else better to do"

"Where'd you disappear to last night?"

"Cedric, it's none of your business"

"I just wondered, I missed you"

Em looked a little shocked and surprised.

"You did?"

"Yeah, look can we talk, somewhere else?"

She looked over his shoulder, where Madam Pince was keeping a hawk like glare fixed on them.

"Ok, lets go" she whispered, picking up the notebook she had been writing on.

-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/

Cedric led her outside and sat her down on a stone bench.

"I'm still in love with you"

Looking down at the grass between her feet in guilt, Emilia looked at him, she could feel a lump rising in her throat.

"Cedric, I- I'm with Oliver now"

He looked at her with very hurt eyes.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

He stared at the ground and sighed in sadness.

Em went to walk away, but Cedric grabbed her wrist, she turned slowly, he was now standing.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever love another woman."

She looked at him, trying her hardest to fight back the tears. He put a hand around her left shoulder, and slowly pulled her into him. Em looked deep into his eyes, knowing what was coming.

He lowered his head to her height and kissed softly on the lips. She responded, hoping she'd be able to find that she still had some feelings for him, but she didn't.

She pulled away and let waves of tears fall down her reddening face. Emilia looked at Cedric, her vision blurred with saltwater.

"I'm sorry, I-I can't do this."

She turned and walked away, back towards the Gryffindor tower, her shoulders heaving with unshed tears.

Cedric stood still where he was, looking after Emilia, with a forlorn expression forming on his handsome face.

"Shit!" he cursed, slapping his fist into the stone column behind him.

-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/

Back in the Gryffindor tower, Emilia threw herself into a chair near the fire, wrapped her arms around her knees, and rested her chin on her folded hands.

Katie swept into the room, looking a little flustered.

"Oh there you are" she panted, " I just went to the library to find you, and you weren't there, and I went looking for you, and I…"

Emilia looked up at her friend, with the frolicking flames of the fire reflecting in er glassy eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Cedric told me he's still in love with me"

"Oh, what did you say?

"Wait, there's more, he kissed me too"

"Oh jeez. Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I couldn't do it."

"What? Kiss him back?"

"Yeah, I tried, but I couldn't, I just felt so bad, I felt like I was stringing him along"

"You felt bad for last night?"

"Exactly"

Katie kneeled down in front of her friend, and pulled her into a reassuring hug.

"I'm gonna go back to the library and finish this essay..." she sniffed.

"Ok, do you want me to go with you?"

"No, it's ok, I'll be fine"

-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/

When Oliver made it back to the team house, the other guys were already up.

"Wahey! The wanderer returns!" exclaimed Jason as the missing Keeper strode in.

"What happened to you last night?" said Ian swigging a cup of coffee.

Propping Em's broom up against the cupboard underneath the stairs, Oliver ignored him and walked into the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

"Dude, hello? What happened?"

"Last night was awesome" said Wood, subconsciously stirring the steaming cup in front of him.

"You didn't…. you know?" inquired Sam

Looking at the expression on his, Ben slapped him on the back, shook his hand and laughed…

"Good for you man!"

Oliver sighed happily and took a mouthful of his drink.

"You had sex with her?" sounded a shocked Ben.

"Yeah, mutual thing, I didn't force her or nothing"

"That's- that's cool man" said Will

"I think I'm falling for her"

That last remark caused the whole room to fall silent. Looking at their disbelieving expressions, Oliver said:

"What? Like it's a crime?"

"No, it's not that, you've just never admitted to being in love with anyone before" said Sam, staring at his love-struck friend.

"Yeah, but I've never felt like this before"

"Have you told her?" asked Ian.

Looking vacantly out of the window, he whispered…

"No"

"Well tell her, owl her now" said Ben, thrusting a quill into Oliver's hand.

"No, I've got a better idea, I'll mail her on Christmas Day" 

"Aaaawwww, that's so sweet" laughed Sam

-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/

The four days between the Yule Ball and Christmas passed uneventfully, except for the whole Cedric incident.

Christmas Day arrived, and surprisingly enough, the sixth years were among the first people up, especially in Gryffindor house.

The Weasley twins gave their respective girlfriends their presents. Fred got Angelina a new scarf, which reflected a snowy sky, and George got Katie a large packet of sugar quills and a bottle of colour changing ink.

When Emilia appeared in the common room, dressed in thick blue pyjamas, a navy dressing gown and fluffy sky blue slippers, her roommates greeted her with their usual cheer.

Around the sofa where the sixth years sat, Em noticed that was a few wrapped presents remaining with her name on the tags. Cheering up instantly, she sat down on the rug in front the aforementioned sofa. 

Turning over the first tag, she smiled and untied the ribbon holding the box. The tag read: Merry Christmas love, have a great time, from Mum and Dad.

Lifting the top off the box, Em gasped and squealed in delight, it was a tiny tabby kitten. Picking the wriggling feline from its four-walled prison, she smiled and proclaimed.

"I'm gonna call you Aurora"

There was a large present, which turned out not to be a present at all, it was just Oliver returning her Nimbus. Propped up against it, was a small gift with FRAGILE written on it, and there was an envelope rested against that.

Slowly and carefully, she peeled off the shimmering wrapping. Inside was a picture frame, in which was a picture of herself and Oliver at the Yule Ball, he had an arm around her waist, as did she around his.

Em smiled and blushed at the memory of that night.

Apprehensively, she broke the seal on the envelope at her feet, and slid the folded parchment out.

Her eyes drifted down the page until she saw the words 'Dear Emilia…' She concentrated on the first two words for a second, and then continued.

_I hope you liked your present, I know I liked mine, thanks._

Look, there's no easy way to say this, but I'm being forced by the guys to write this.  I'm…. I think, I'm falling for you, literally.

She reeled backwards slightly and read on.

I appreciate it if you don't feel the same way, but I had to tell you, or I would have felt really bad for the rest of my life.

Hermione appeared, greeted everyone and asked what Em was reading.

"Oliver wrote me a letter" she explained, briefly waving the parchment in Hermione's direction.

"What's it say?" said Hermione, noticing the shocked expression on Emilia's face.

"It um…he said…he's in love with me"

"Oh wow! That's so great" squealed Angelina, practically choking Fred in the process.

"Yeah, it is" sighed Em, dumbfounded.

-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/

For the next few days, Oliver and Cedric's words plagued Emilia's mind. She was being torn between two men she had strong feelings for.

By New Years Eve, Oliver was getting worried that he hadn't heard anything back from Em. He was panicking that he had scared her off.

But at 12 noon that day, while sitting at the kitchen table gazing out of the window. Wood noticed a fluffy dot heading towards the house. When the dot came closer, he saw that it was Harry's owl, Hedwig. The snowy bird landed on the windowsill and tapped on the glass, impatient to be in.

He opened the window, and Hedwig hopped on to the kitchen table, dropped an envelope, shook her feathers and looked expectantly at Oliver.

"In a minute" he said, sitting down and opening the envelope.

Scanning the page very quickly, a grin formed on his previously depressed face.

The letter read:

Thank you for returning my broom in one piece, I appreciate it. As for that declaration of yours, well what to say? I love you too, very much, and by the way, I loved the picture.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, punching the air.

He gave Hedwig a little piece of the toast he had been eating and she flew away into the snowy sky.


	10. The Plan

 Innocent Words

Author: Captain Cornflake

Chapter Ten: The Plan…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*DISCLAIMER*~

I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: if anyone wants a full list of all Q.A (Quidditch Association) cup games played, please email me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After the Christmas and New Year break, Puddlemere United roared back into action, in both the league and the Quidditch Association Cup.

They had progressed to the semi-final for the first time in twenty years. League –wise, they were second, topped only by the Pride Of Portree.

The semi-final was to be against the Montrose Magpies, much to Em's dismay. They'd had a lucky win over the Wimbourne Wasps in the quarterfinals. They'd been 70-0 down until their Seeker; Matt Fortune caught the Snitch, which was good fortune, considering it was really foggy that day.

When the fixture was drawn, Emilia had a dilemma. You see, the game was to be on a Tuesday, with an 11:30 start.

So, she had to ask Professor McGonagall of she could have permission to play. Of course McGonagall agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The day of the game arrived quickly; it was supposed to be a sunny day. It was sunny, but it was almost gale force winds.

So, the team knew they were going to have problems playing, let alone winning.

In the cold changing rooms at the Magpies stadium, the Puddlemere squad were huddled together, mainly for Ian and Sam's pre-match pep talk, and to keep warm at least for a while.

Just over a month ago, it had been Emilia's 17th birthday, and the guys had a party for her at their house. Eventually the other five guys had gone out and left Oliver and Em alone, to um, do their own thing.

-Oliver's POV-

When Em's 17th came round, we organised a big party for her at our house. Which, as per usual, involved a lot of alcohol and loud music. As you can imagine, everyone got pretty drunk. Especially me, I was completely wasted, but not wasted enough to not notice how attractive Emilia was looking that night.

After much drinking, and very bad singing, Ian, Sam, Jason, Ben and Will left us alone and I'll let you imagine the consequences.

-Normal POV-

But back to the game, they had been playing for about twenty minutes and there was no score, mainly because none of the chasers could get anywhere near the goals before being blown away further down the field.

To add to that, visibility wasn't very good for either seeker, so the match looked as if it could go on for a long time..

By 1pm, everyone was getting a bit beyond tired, but thankfully Will and Jason had managed to score. Problem now being that it was now bucketing down with rain. Right then though, there was that familiar golden flash near the ground, so Em zoomed after the tiny glimmer of hope for ending the game.

As she hurtled towards the ground, rain flowing through her hair, a spectacular clap of thunder and a flash of lightening lit the field up. Emilia saw a blur of black and white besides her heading for the same target.

No more than twenty feet from the ground, Fortune swung himself into her, causing her veer violently off course. Rain was making everything blur around her, but Em kept as firm an eye as possible on the Snitch.

Both Seekers reached out and snatched at the glimmer. Emilia fell from her broom and slid across the muddy field on her back. When she stopped, he head was lying in a huge mud filled pool.

She drifted in and out of consciousness for a few seconds before the Snitch fell out of her sleeve, a faint whistle was heard, and the fans erupted into an endless roar of applause.

Thick black hair was plastered to Emilia's forehead, never ending rain falling into her eyes. Moments later, and an ecstatic Oliver knelt down besides her, sat her up and pulled her into his strong arms.

They were both soaked to the bone and quite muddy, but the hug continued, they didn't even notice the other players land and surround them. Oliver scooped Emilia up in his arms and hauled her off the waterlogged field.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few hours later, back at 4 Navy Drive (The team house), wrapped up in a fleecy blanket, Em was now in a fit state to celebrate the victory.

"Well, once again we've triumphed over the weather" laughed Ben, wiggling his bare toes in front of the roaring fire.

"Yep, and I've got to go back to school tomorrow" sighed Em.

"Shame, we could have had a proper celebration" said Will.

After many hours of merriment and celebration, Mr Griff escorted Em back to Hogwarts.

They flew in his car, avoiding being seen by anyone, just as a precaution. While flying over the lake, Emilia looked out of the window and down on the shimmering water, which, at the moment, was reflecting the moon.

After landing about 50ft from Hagrid's hut, Em said goodbye to her boss, hurried back inside, had a shower and decided on an early night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The following morning, May 18th, Emilia was woken up by her alarm clock, which happened to be called Aurora.

"Oh crap" she squealed, throwing the covers off herself and jumping out of bed. Hastily, she threw on her robes, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, grabbed her books and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast.

There was an empty seat next to Alicia, Em stepped over the bench and sat down, smiling at the group.

"When did you get back?" yawned Katie.

"Last night, but I went straight to bed, I was really tired."

"So…what happened at the game?" asked Angelina

"Oh, that, I-well the weather was terrible, I couldn't see anything…"

"You didn't lose did you?" said Fred

Emilia looked at the floor and the others just guessed.

"Aaaawwww, I'm sorry" piped up Harry

"Sorry? Are you kidding me? We won!!" she screamed with delight.

Fred and George's eyes went wide.

"We're in the cup final!!"

Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Fred, George, Harry, Ron and Hermione jumped up, causing a few other people to look around, they all crowded around their now celebrity friend, itching to congratulate her and shake her hand.

"How's it feel to be on the team now then?" asked Harry, calming himself down.

"It feels bloody great."

McGonagall strode up behind the excited students and said.

"I heard about you win yesterday Miss Stewart, congratulations"

"Thank you professor"

"I look forward to seeing you play in the final, whenever that may be"

"Yeah"

"Well..." the Head paused "…good luck"

"Thanks" whispered Em, hoarsely.

McGonagall swept away, back to the teachers table.

Later on that day, after suffering double Arithmancy with Slytherin, Emilia was collared by Madam Hooch as she headed back to the Gryffindor common room. Hooch had been appointed as head of Gryffindor when Dumbledore died and McGonagall became headmistress.

Calling of the Quidditch star as she opened the portrait hole, the excited flying instructor beamed at Em.

"Well done!" she exclaimed in her rough voice.

"Thank you madam" blushed Emilia, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"I'm going to be at the final"

Em looked at her.

"You've got a ticket already?"

"Yes I have, for a few weeks actually"

Hooch produced a beige coloured strip with black writing on it, the lines labelled time and place were still blank.

Noticing the confused expression on her face, the hawk-eyed teacher explained:

"Ah, those will appear when they've been decided" she paused " You'd best be getting on, I'm sure you've got much studying to do."

"Yes I have, um…bye"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam and Ian decided to start the training for the final two weeks after that Magpies game, before the date had even been confirmed.

While standing in front of the club trophy cabinet, Em looked at the list of cup wins the team had. Scanning down the list, she saw that the last time they had won the Q.A cup was in 1970.

"My first year here" said Mr Griff, appearing behind her.

"Really?" said Em, still gazing at the shining trophies and moving pictures of past teams.

"It's taken twenty-five years, a hell of a lot of hard work and some really good young talent to get back here" he sighed, a smile forming underneath his thick greying moustache.

She looked up into the coaches' shining dark green eyes and saw both fear and hope/

"Ah ha! There you are!" shouted Sam from the other end of the corridor "…come on, the other semi-final's on the radio"

"Is that still going on?" said Em, disbelieving that that particular game had been going on for two weeks now.

"Yeah, we think it's nearly over now, so come on, we need to know who we're playing."

Sam pulled the startled Seeker by the wrist towards the canteen, where five keen pairs of ears were crowded around the small portable stereo on one of the tables.

Emilia sat herself down next to Oliver, who put an arm around her shoulders and then turned his attentions back to the radio. The commentator was practically screaming into his microphone.

The Stormers are on the attack again; they have dominated the game so far. If you're just joining us, the score is Stonewall Stormers 80, Appleby Arrows 70. 

Ian rested his chin on his closed hand.

Oh, Stormers Seeker Philips is locked in a fight for the Snitch with Arrows Seeker Tubbs, Philips is edging ahead. Oh, that's gotta hurt, Philips is on the ground, and he's holding his nose, but wait a minute… YYYYESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! He has the Snitch, along with a broken nose the lucky sh-

The commentator was cut off and adverts came on instead.

"Sounds a bit like Lee Jordan doesn't he?"

"Yeah he does, just a little bit"

After listening to the Stormers victory, the team forced themselves out onto the field to train for the final in a fortnight's time.

But nerves got the better of Jason and Emilia, and they had to leave training early, mainly to throw up.

When they left the stalls, pale-faced and shaking, J and Em met the others back in the changing room.

"You guys Ok now?" asked a concerned Ian.

"Yeah" was the reply that came from Jason, but Emilia remained silent.

"Hey babe, what's wrong?" said Oliver, holding Em at the shoulders.

"Nothing" she whispered

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine"

"Ok then"

Oliver turned to his locker and touched to small box inside…

"When game day comes" he thought "When game day comes…"

The locker was then shut, leaving Wood's plan lying dormant, until the day of the final that is…


	11. QA Cup Final

Innocent Words  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Eleven: The Q.A Cup Final  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The date of the final had been confirmed as the 18th of June, and it was now the 16th. The third and final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was scheduled for the day after the final, on Monday the 19th.  
  
The venue for the game was decided too, it was to be held at the Puddlemere ground, owing to the fact that this was their first final in twenty-five years.  
  
At the end of every practice session, Oliver checked that his plan was intact, the others had no idea what was coming. He smiled to himself and went back to hoping that the game in two days time would be a win.  
  
Emilia, once again, went back to school so she could get some sleep before Sunday's game.  
  
By 1:30pm on Saturday, 24 hours to go, she was a bag of nerves, so much so that she left her DADA catch-up session early, with Professor Moody's permission, to go and calm herself down a little bit.  
  
She made her way to the Quidditch field, where there was now a maze for the third task. Em sat down in the middle of one of the empty stands and stared out over the field. There were footsteps behind her and someone sat down next to her.  
  
"Hi" he said, it was Cedric.  
  
"Hi Cedric" she replied.  
  
"Nervous?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"It's understandable, but if the team have faith in you, and you have faith in yourself, you can do anything."  
  
"Thanks, that helped a lot"  
  
Cedric put an arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulders. By now, he had finally accepted that he and Emilia were nothing more than friends, despite everything that had gone on between them.  
  
"What about you? Aren't you nervous?"  
  
"Yeah I am, but its not bothering me"  
  
"Wow, I wish I could feel the same way about tomorrow" sighed Em  
  
"You will once you get out there"  
  
"Hmmmmmmmmmmm."  
  
"Look" he said, holding her hand tightly "You'll be fine, I've seen you play, those Canadians don't stand a chance, maybe that Philips still has a dodgy nose"  
  
"Yeah I hope so."  
  
"You'll be fine" he hugged her closer and they looked at the high, shining Quidditch hoops.  
  
When it came to going to bed, Em couldn't get any sleep what so ever, so, with the help of Katie and George, she brewed herself a light sleeping potion that helped her drift off into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.  
  
Alicia shook her awake at 10am and told her Oliver had arrived to pick her up.  
  
The nervous Keeper opened the door slightly and gazed at his girlfriend, who was pulling on a thin crème coloured tee shirt.  
  
"Hey." he murmured.  
  
She whipped around to look at him, and then continued pulling on her trainers.  
  
Oliver walked over to and sat down on the bed, where only six months previously, they had consummated their relationship.  
  
"Still nervous?" he asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, just a little bit" she replied sarcastically.  
  
"It's gonna be ok.I promise" said Wood, pulling Em into his arms.  
  
He looked at his watch and whispered:  
  
"Come on, it's time we were going"  
  
"Ok" she said, pulling on a thing jacket.  
  
The two tense players left the room, walked the long spiral stairs to the common room, where, to their surprise, every conscious Gryffindor was gathered to wish them both good luck.  
  
Outside, Em gasped when she saw a small Fiat, Oliver had learned to drive!  
  
"Oh my god" she laughed, opening the passenger side door and stepping in  
  
"What?"  
  
"You actually learned to drive?"  
  
"Yeah I did, I figured it would come in handy"  
  
Em just laughed and shut the car door, and they were off.  
  
Wood's driving was still a bit dithery, which was understandable, considering he had only passed his test a few weeks previously.  
  
After a bumpy ride, they touched down in the stadium's car park, which at the moment was deserted.  
  
Sam and Ian, being the team captains, were already at the ground.  
  
"Hey you guys, how're you doing?" inquired Sam.  
  
"We're good, aren't we?" replied Oliver, looking at Em.  
  
"Yeah, we're um, great." she trailed off and gazed over their heads at the barely visible tower stands, adorned in the teams colours.  
  
"Come on, let's get inside before the press get here" said Ian, putting a hand on Emilia's shoulder and ushering her inside.  
  
1pm, thirty minutes to go, everyone, including Oliver were so nervous they though they were going to be sick.  
  
The crowd outside were well up for it, considering there were ominous clouds gathering overhead.  
  
No one noticed Oliver slip his lucky charm into his pocket.  
  
"And here comes the rain" announced the commentator.  
  
"Oh great" sighed Will.  
  
"Will you please give a huge round of applause for the home side.Puddlemere United!"  
  
"Ok ladies, lets get this over with." said Sam, rousing the team into action. They walked the ever-darkening tunnel, shaking silently.  
  
Many of them were hyperventilating, in fact, all of them were. The door in front of them rose up and they flew out on to the quickly dampening field.  
  
The referee didn't bother with any pre-match pleasantries, he just released the Bludgers and the Snitch, then the Quaffle, and the rain-soaked game began.  
  
Oliver resorted to using the double eight loop, flying at nearly 100mph around the goal hoops. Will and Ian had perfected the Porskoff Ploy, also Ben and Will had been practising the Reverse pass with deadly accuracy.  
  
Minutes were passing, turning into hours, and at 3:30pm, Em flew past the hoops Oliver was defending and shouted to him.  
  
"I'm taking that Philips out!" she flew away.  
  
Wood smiled and raised an eyebrow as Emilia went into her faked dive; Philips caught onto her and hesitated to follow, fearing that it could be the Wronski Feint. The Stormers captain, Chaser Emmet nudged him and told him to 'get the hell on her tail'  
  
So, not wanting to get a smack around the head, Philips plunged after his opposite at a terrifying speed.  
  
Em looked behind her, knowing that her plan was working perfectly. The red and White clad Seeker was less than two feet behind her, and she was ten feet from the ground and closing. She pulled out of the dive a split second later, leaving Philips to crash headlong into the muddy, rain soaked field below.  
  
Emilia laughed and punched the air, a triumphant expression on her face. Oliver looked at her, and then at the conferring Canadian team. There were many nods and arms wove in Em's direction and it worried him.  
  
She flew by him and he said:  
  
"Be careful, they're planning something."  
  
Em just gave him a reassuring smile and continued looking for the Snitch.  
  
Oliver was busy defending the hoops from yet another goal, the score now being 120-90, the Stormers way, when he heard a high pitched yelp further down below him. He figured it was Em.  
  
She was hovering about 40ft below him, now holding her right foot.  
  
He shouted down to her:  
  
"Hey! Are you ok?"  
  
"No!" she squealed, her face scrunched up in pain.  
  
Wood gave the offending Beater a death glare and asked Em if she was all right to keep playing. She said she was, and then she sped off after what he assumed was the Snitch.  
  
Em had to zigzag around several players to stay on target, she stuck her right arm out as always, the Snitch just out of her reach.  
  
"C'mere. You. Little.son-of-a" she grunted, trying desperately to make her broom go faster.  
  
Her slender fingers crept around the golden ball and grasped it tightly, sealing the games fate.  
  
Not concentrating after that, Emilia collided with Oliver, sending them both flying to the ground. They landed in the sand of the scoring area, side by side, breathing heavily, looking slightly dishelved.  
  
They both heard the whistle go, but it didn't sink in, at least not until five faces appeared over them, three of them crying with joy.  
  
"Do you realise what you've done?" screamed Sam.  
  
A broad smile now graced her face; Jason helped the pained Seeker to her feet, Will and Sam helped Oliver up.  
  
Mr Griff had made his way onto the field, crying profusely. He congratulated the whole squad and then lead them to the stand where they were to receive their winners medals and be presented with the cup.  
  
The gallant losers accepted their participation medals and congratulated the opponents. They had a few photos taken, were asked a few questions by the press and then disappeared into the changing rooms.  
  
The announcer was shouting into his mega-phone:  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the winners of the 1995 Quidditch Association Cup.. PUDDLEMERE UNITED!!!"  
  
A huge never-ending roar burst forth from the stands.  
  
Oliver parted from the crowd and had a word with the commentator, who turned the megaphone towards the teams, not before saying:  
  
"Ladies and gents, a member of the teams has something to announce."  
  
Ian let Emilia down from his shoulders and supported her with one arm.  
  
Wood paused and took a deep breath.  
  
"Emilia, there's no easy way to say this, but I-I love you now, and I hope to be with you forever, and I hope you feel the same way.." He went down on one knee.  
  
The crowd fell silent apart from the shallow breathing of many. Emilia was hyperventilating.  
  
"Will.will you." he stuttered, "Will you marry me?"  
  
Em couldn't speak for the huge lump in her throat. Oliver looked up at her, expectantly and hopefully.  
  
Then came the answer:  
  
"Yes" she squeaked.  
  
Wood swept her up into his arms, kissed her passionately, then put her back down; he went back down on one knee and produced the box he had been keeping in his locker. He opened it, and inside was a tiny diamond set in a thin white gold band.  
  
He slipped it on the fourth finger of her left hand, stood up and pulled her in for another long, never-ending kiss.  
  
The stands all stood up and applauded them furiously.  
  
Emilia was going to be Mrs Oliver Wood.  
  
-Oliver's Pov-  
  
I'd never felt so happy in all my life, we'd just won the QA cup and I was about to ask Em to marry me.  
  
No one could contain their tears of joy as the cup was presented to us, least of all me. That moment was amazing, but nothing compared to when I asked the commentator to lend me the megaphone.  
  
The others looked a little confused, but Emilia looked blank, expressionless almost.  
  
I said my bit about how I felt and then, feeling like I was about to be violently sick, I did what I thought was the most romantic thing possible, I got down on one knee. Em's face drained of all colour. She started to hyperventilate, evidently we thought we were both gonna pass out.  
  
I had her right hand between both of my palms and tried to say:  
  
"Will.will you"  
  
I couldn't get the bloody words out to save my life, but then they just came out.  
  
"Will you marry me?" There, I'd said it, I got it off my chest, and it felt great. There was that silent tense moment, like in all those muggle movies I'd heard about.  
  
Her almost silent reply was like music to my ears.  
  
I was almost crying when I cradled her in my arms, and then I put her down, pulled the ring out of my pocket and put it on her finger.  
  
Right then, life was great and nothing could bring me down, or so I thought. 


	12. Romance Revealed

Innocent Words  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Twelve: Romance Revealed  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
Em still couldn't believe she'd gotten engaged. The initial shock had gone but now the full realisation of what she was doing hit her.  
  
Unfortunately it hit her right in the middle of breakfast the next day. She jolted suddenly; Alicia looked at her and asked:  
  
"What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Nothing, it's nothing at all!  
  
Alicia shrugged her shoulders and returned to her cereal.  
  
Katie bounded into the hall, with George in tow, and ran towards Em, a grin plastered on her face as wide as the room.  
  
"Congratulations" she squealed.  
  
"What?" said Em, he face draining of all colour. How did she know?  
  
"On winning the cup."  
  
"Oh yeah, that" beamed Em, a real smile on her face.  
  
Next to her, Alicia almost choked on the mouthful of cornflakes she was swallowing.  
  
"You won the bloody cup?"  
  
"Duh, why else would I be so happy?"  
  
"Well, by the looks of your left hand, that's not the only reason" smiled Katie  
  
Em quickly covered up her hand, not wanting anyone to know.  
  
"Eh?" said a dumbfounded George.  
  
"Nothing, nothing" whispered Katie, noticing her friend's embarrassment. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Later on that day, in the middle of another boring History of Magic lesson, Alicia leaned over and asked.  
  
"What was Katie talking about this morning?"  
  
"Nothing, I'll tell you later" she sighed, looking guiltily over at the Hufflepuffs, amongst whom Cedric was trying not to look nervous about the afternoon's final task.  
  
He looked up at her, and quickly looked back at his work.  
  
After the seemingly never ending lesson ended, Emilia dashed out of the room, trying to catch Cedric.  
  
"Cedric, Cedric wait up!" she shouted, he stopped dead in his tracks but failed to turn around.  
  
Em caught up with him, and held her side because she had a stitch.  
  
He stared blankly at her, and she began:  
  
"Can we.go somewhere, there's something I need to tell you."  
  
Cedric's eyes wandered all over her face, before he led her in the direction of the Hufflepuff common room.  
  
He muttered the password and then dragged Em to the nearest sofa in the room that was adorned in the canary yellow of the house.  
  
Em's gaze surveyed the room a little before fixing her stare on Cedric's confused grey eyes.  
  
"What was it.you wanted to tell me?"  
  
"Yesterday.I uh.we.I"  
  
"You won the cup final, yes I know that, congratulations" he said, emotionless.  
  
"No, it's not that."  
  
"Oh God, you're not pregnant are you?"  
  
"No!! Oliver's asked me to marry him, and I've said yes" Em snapped, and then she clamped a hand to her mouth, realising what she'd said.  
  
Cedric reeled back, his eyes filled with hurt. She gasped and blurted out:  
  
"Oh my god, I'm sorry, it wasn't supposed to come out like that. Oh shit, I'm sorry, I-I."  
  
Cedric regained his voice, and balled his fists up to contain the rage he felt inside.  
  
"Will.you just...go" he seethed through gritted teeth  
  
"Cedric.I.I'm sorry" whispered Em, desperate to backtrack her words.  
  
"JUST GO!" he bellowed, causing a few younger students to jump in the sparsely populated room.  
  
Emilia stood up, and opened her mouth to speak, but Diggory cut her off.  
  
"Just.go" he choked, as he fought back tears of anger.  
  
Em left, and headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where she hoped her friends would be.  
  
To her relief, they were. Alicia was by now, dying to know what Katie had been talking about at breakfast.  
  
"Oh come on..tell me" she whined  
  
"No, ask Em when you next see her, in fact, ask her now, here she comes."  
  
Emilia stopped in the shadowy passageway behind the portrait hole, put her back against the uneven wall and slid down it, crying silently.  
  
Angelina, worried like hell, ran to her emotionally unstable friend, kneeled down in front of her and said:  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"He hates me" she managed to say through strangulated sobs.  
  
"Who? Cedric?"  
  
"Yes.I told him" sniffed Em, "I told him about me and Oliver"  
  
"I thought he already knew, I mean you've been dating the guy for like seven or eight months now."  
  
"No! He knows me and Oliver are engaged," she said, much regretting it afterwards  
  
"You wha..wha?" choked Alicia  
  
Emilia remained silent, until the looks of her friends forced her to speak.  
  
"What did you just say?" sounded a shocked Fred and George.  
  
"Oliver.asked me to marry him"  
  
There was a rush of squeals and 'Oh my gods' from the girls. Angelina helped Em to her feet.  
  
Katie and Alicia sat down either side of her on the sofa and paced reassuring hands or her shoulders. "And.?" Alicia enquired.  
  
"I said yes," whispered Em, unconsciously letting a tear slide down her cheek.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey" said a sympathetic Fred, catching the tear on one of his fingers.  
  
"I just wanted him to be happy for me, that's all"  
  
"And I'm sure he is, this is probably just his way of dealing with it, he'll be Ok" smiled Angelina  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure, hey, if you run now, you might be able to catch him before the task"  
  
"No, I'm the last person he'll want to see"  
  
"It'll be alright, go, go on" urged Katie, pushing Em towards the door  
  
"Ok, I guess it's worth a shot"  
  
Emilia left the Gryffindor tower and raced towards the Quidditch field, where she hoped to find Cedric before the Third Task started.  
  
She could see shadows moving in the tent where the four champions were preparing themselves.  
  
She pulled back the one side of the canvas-like fabric and gingerly asked for Cedric. He appeared, and when he saw who it was, his expressions.  
  
"Oh. It's you"  
  
"Look, I need to talk to you"  
  
"Save it," he snapped, cutting her off.  
  
"I need you to understand something"  
  
"Oh yeah? Like what? That someone I love is marrying someone else?"  
  
"Yes, I need you to understand why."  
  
"Well come then, try me," he shouted, causing Fleur to look over.  
  
"We changed, or at lest I did. I just- I couldn't see you like that anymore"  
  
"Oh yeah, so what did you see me as? One of your cast offs huh? Was that it?"  
  
"No, that's not it all. I see you now as more of the big brother I never had"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"You're the one I can turn to for advice, or talk to when I'm feeling down"  
  
Cedric's gaze had melted from one of pure jealousy to one of understanding, awash with tears.  
  
"I.I still love you" stammered Em " But as a friend"  
  
"I...um"  
  
"Do you forgive me now?"  
  
"Yes" he whispered  
  
Emilia flung herself onto him, he responded and held her close to his body.  
  
"When they parted, Fleur and Krum were both staring at them, with looks of curiosity and suspicion on their faces.  
  
"Look...I uh...I gotta get going now.for the uh.you know"  
  
"Yeah I know," sighed Em, dusting a piece of fluff from Cedric's shoulder.  
  
"Wish me luck," he said, a nervous smile forming on his lips.  
  
"Break a leg" laughed Em, as her left the tent and waved at her.  
  
She sighed again, leaving the prep area and making her way into the stands.  
  
When Em found the girls, they had saved her a seat. She sat down, told them what had been said, and then the waiting was over, the third and final task of the Tri-Wizard tournament began.  
  
Harry and Cedric were he first ones into the maze, followed by Krum, then Fleur.  
  
Throughout the time the four champions were in the maze, Em was wringing her hands nervously. Especially when she heard a few screams and saw various flashes coming from the bushy enclosure.  
  
Then came the biggest flash of all, which caused a gasp to echo through the crowd.  
  
Emilia closed her eyes, and drifted away into another world.  
  
In her mind a misty, eerie scene formed, it looked like a graveyard. The scene swayed a little before it focused, on what looked like Harry, then a blurry version of Cedric.  
  
'What the hell?' she thought, before she was blinded by a green light. Em mentally closed her eyes tightly, and then opened them again.  
  
She'd heard a dull thud while she'd had her 'eyes' shut, and when she opened them; she was forced to really open her eyes.  
  
Em screamed 'OH MY GOD!', which caused a few people to look around.  
  
"What's up with you?" hissed Fred, confusion covering his face.  
  
Emilia, pretending she hadn't heard him, fought her way to the end of the row to the stairs which ran all the way to the front of the stand.  
  
"What's wrong? Shouted Katie  
  
"Something's happened to Cedric"  
  
The other five teens sat glued to their seat, fearing that their friend had lost their mind.  
  
Emilia ran as fast as she could down the steps without tripping. When she reached the front of the stand, she jumped over the flag adorned barrier, below which was an almost 10ft drop.  
  
She landed on her feet, fell forward, jumped up, and ran towards the crowd that was gathering around the maze entrance.  
  
She fought her way through the fear-ridden people to a small clearing where Harry collapsed, dragging a limp body with him.  
  
Em ran to the body, rolled it over, and stared into the deathly pale face, the shocked grey eyes and half-open mouth, it was Cedric.  
  
She was shaking with grief as she pulled Cedric's dead body into her arms.  
  
McGonagall didn't stop her as she kneeled in front of Harry and he tried to tell her what had happened.  
  
By then, news of Cedric's death had reached the stands and hoards of girls were in hysterical tears.  
  
Em had become oblivious to the screams around her. She only snapped out of her trance when Amos Diggory, Cedric's father, shouted 'Oh My God!' and fell to his knees, gazing at his dead son.  
  
She let go of him, so his grieving parents could see their child.  
  
She stood up, dazed with grief, and walked away from the clamouring crowds surrounding the horrific scene. In her trance-like state of mind, Em didn't notice the waves of people passing her, until Angelina stopped her dead in her tracks.  
  
"Em! Jesus Christ, what happened?"  
  
"He.he's.Cedric's dead"  
  
The Gryffindor chaser said nothing; she just pulled her weeping friend into her arms.  
  
As Em's tears fell, her other four friends gathered around her and escorted the tearful teen away from all the commotion.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Many hours later, in the Hospital Wing, after seeing Harry and hearing the full story, Emilia was more upset than she had been before.  
  
She left alone, and sought out Professor McGonagall to ask her if she could see Cedric one more time before his funeral. The sympathetic headmistress said that she'd speak to Cedric's parents and get back to her.  
  
She went back tot the Gryffindor common room, which was thankfully deserted.  
  
She sank into one of the sofas and started to cry profusely.  
  
After half an hour, Em's eyes were very red and puffy, and she had shed so many tears, she felt she could shed no more.  
  
She was also very tired, and began to fall asleep.  
  
When she finally fell into a deep sleep, she dreamed, she dreamed of what had happened that day, then, the scene melted into all the best moment she'd had with Cedric; the first time she saw him, the first time they spoke, the first time they kissed.  
  
The rest of the Gryffindor team came back to their tower; the first thing they noticed was their sleeping teammate.  
  
Fred and George, being the gentlemen they were, carried Em up to the girl's dorm, six flights up.  
  
They lay her down on her bed and left her alone to sleep her sadness off.  
  
She awoke not long after that, but remained curled up, hugging herself.  
  
Then it came to her, she still needed Cedric, and he had still needed her.  
  
But how to get to him again? She surveyed the room and then felt the thin end of her wand stick into her ribs. There it was, her ticket back to Cedric, back to his side.  
  
She slowly pulled the 14-inch stick from the inside pocket of her robes, inspected it closely for any flaw, before pointing it at her heart, thinking for a moment, and then withdrawing.  
  
She pulled open the draw of her bedside cabinet, picked out a scrap of parchment, a pre-filled quill and wrote a tiny note, placed it on the top of the cabinet, and assumed her previous position.  
  
She closed her eyes and let the words flow from her mouth:  
  
"Avada Kedavra"  
  
The last thing she knew was a blinding green flash. 


	13. Confession

Innocent Words  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Thirteen: Confession....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
~*DISCLAIMER*~  
  
I do NOT own Harry Potter, all credit goes J.K Rowling and thanks to PuddlemereChaser for letting me steal your ideas (j/k). PS I own Emilia.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Down in the common room, Fred heard a very dull thud.  
  
"Did you guys hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?" mumbled Angelina.  
  
"I heard a noise upstairs, I think someone had better go check on Em..."  
  
"The group sat and stared at each other for a few minutes, before Alicia sighed loudly and got up, saying:  
  
"Oh I'll go check on her..."  
  
She walked the six flights of stairs, grumbling for the first three about how someone else could have gone.  
  
When she reached the door, she stopped and listened for any sound of movement, there wasn't any.  
  
Pushing the door open slowly, Alicia peered inside to see if Em was still asleep. She surveyed the room a couple of times, before venturing inside and whispering:  
  
"Em? You in here?"  
  
When there was no reply, she went in further, and when she reached Em's bed, she nearly fainted in shock, instead she screamed.  
  
~*Out-of-body experience*~ Em's POV ~*  
  
Floating, it's wild, it's an incredible feeling, surrounded by a bright light, it's white, pure, almost blinding, now i can see a shadow, but only very faintly.  
  
It's coming closer now, It's a person, but I can't see their face, it's vague, clouded almost.  
  
I can see a mouth now, a nose, two perfect grey, piercing eyes and a shock of dark hair...  
  
"Cedric?"  
  
"Yes, it's me..."  
  
"Am I dead?"  
  
"No, you're not dead, not yet..."  
  
"But I...but"  
  
"Ssh" he stopped me speaking with a fingertip.  
  
I looked at him confused...  
  
"Come on, come with me"  
  
He pulled me away...  
  
"Why'd you do it?"  
  
"I wanted to see you again, and that was the only way, I thought you still needed me?"  
  
"I do, but there's someone else who needs you more than I do..."  
  
I could feel my eyes filling up with tears, which threatened to marr my angelic vision.  
  
"Come on, I'll show you..."  
  
Suddenly, it felt like we were flying, but not for long, we stopped over what looked like a cloudy version of the hospital wing.  
  
And there I was, frail, weak, pale, looking almost dead.  
  
"Just look at the chair next to you....go on"  
  
I looked at the chair next to me, and there was Oliver, elbows on my bedside, head in his hands.  
  
"He's been there for three straight days now, he's hardly left your side..."  
  
I'm looking at Oliver, long and hard, it's heartbreaking...  
  
"Go, he needs you more than I do"  
  
I realise what he is saying, and pull him very close to me, His embrace feels so real, so loving.  
  
"Bye" he whispered, smiling slightly at me as I begin to fall...  
  
Falling, falling, always falling...  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Oliver sat at his beloved's bedside, willing her to wake up.  
  
He put his head in his hands and sighed, he had no slept in three days. Slowly, he began to doze, and then he fell into an exhaustion induced sleep.  
  
His head rested only inched away from her hand, her long, pale fingers.  
  
Em's dark eyelashes fluttered against each other before her eyes began to open very slowly... She glanced weakly at her fiance's sleeping form, and a wave of guilt washed over her. She let him sleep for a while, subconciously stroking his hair.  
  
He woke up with a jolt, disorientated and tired, after feeling someone touching his head. He blinked a few times, stretched and lay back in his chair.  
  
Em sighed and whispered:  
  
"Hey..."  
  
Oliver sat foward, and grasped her hands tightly...  
  
"Ol, I'm sorry, I-I don't know what I was thinking..."  
  
"Ssh, calm down, It's alright, I understand"  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yeah, you lost a close friend, you were upset..."  
  
She gave him a thankful look, and then her expression changed to contemplation. At that moment thought, they were interrupted by Professor McGonagall...  
  
"Ah, Miss Stewart, you're awake.."  
  
She acknowledged the teacher with a nod.  
  
"You're probably going to want to know why you're not dead..."  
  
"Yes...I was beginning to wonder..."  
  
"You see, it has never been documented, but it has been proven, that the killing curse does not work on oneself, it merely renders the person unconcious for a few days."  
  
"I see" mumbled Oliver  
  
Emilia's eyes were filled with guilty tears.  
  
"I'll leave you two alone" smiled the head, and left...  
  
"Look, there's something I need to tell you..."  
  
"What is it?" asked Oliver, know rather confused.  
  
"That night that we uh, you know..."  
  
"Yeah"  
  
"I-I wasn't a virgin that night"  
  
"Oh, well, if it makes you feel any better, neither was I"  
  
"You weren't? Oh, well, I- I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier"  
  
Even though it sounded like he'd accepted what she had just told him, he still looked a little hurt, as if part of his ego had just been stripped away...  
  
"Oliver, I..." started Em.  
  
"One question, who was it?"  
  
She hesitated to say anything, before Wood's piercing gaze pushed her to tell him.  
  
"It was- It was Cedric, but I swear to god it was before I met you, it was before I even knew you existed..."  
  
"Shit" he stood up, "You pick your times to tell me something like this..."  
  
"Look, it was something that juat happened, what's done is done, you can't change the past. So I lost my virginity to someone else, what does it matter? i mean, was it such a big ego boost to you or something?" she stopped, realising how stupid and pathetic her words sounded.  
  
"What are you talking about? Yes, I did think that that night was your first time, and I'll admit it did make me feel good about myself..."  
  
Oliver, realising how selfish he was sounding, sat back down, and sighed heavily.  
  
"Em, I'm sorry, I'm just thinking of myself ..."  
  
"Ssh...c'mere" she said, gesturing to the edge of the bed.  
  
He got up, and then sat down facing her. She sat up, and pulled him in for an embrace that lasted a long, long time.  
  
"I'm sorry for being an egotistical git..."  
  
"I'm sorry for even thinking of leaving you..."  
  
They left their arms around each others shoulders for a long time, or at least until Katie, Alicia and Angelina appeared.  
  
"Em, you had us so worried" exclaimed Alicia  
  
"I'm dead sorry you guys, I feel do bad. I can't imagine what you've been through..."  
  
"Shut up, Em, you're alright, thats the main thing, now go to sleep..." ordered Oliver.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------  
  
She did just that, she slept off all the effects of the curse, and a few days later found herself invited to Cedric's funeral.  
  
It was the day she got out of the Hospital Wing. It turned out to be a much more painful experience than she thought, not only because she was saying her final goodbye to her first love, but because of the circumstances of his death.  
  
Professor Sprout said a few, having been Cedric's head of house, as did McGonagall, as the headmistress.  
  
Besides the pain the event caused, it was a lovely day, sunshine, a slight summer breeze. A single lily lay accross his coffin, beautiful, solitary, but meaningful.  
  
Em sobbed heavily into Oliver's strong arms, as the priest said his words. He was being an absolute pillar of strength these past few days, and she was thankful that he was there for her...  
  
After the ceremony, Emilia exchanged a few words with Cedric's parents, and then was escorted back to the squad house, where the other guys were waiting to give her a cuppa(tea), and a hug...  
  
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A/N: Crap eh? 


	14. Summer Break

Innocent Words  
  
Author: Captain Cornflake  
  
Chapter Fourteen: Summer Break  
  
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~Disclaimer~  
  
I do not own Harry Potter, I own Emilia,: p  
  
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One month on, Cedric's death still didn't make any sense. Why had Voldemort killed him? Why hadn't it been Harry? He was the one Voldemort had a score to settle with.... why Cedric? Why?  
  
"Em.... even I don't have any idea why he killed Cedric and not me..." explained Harry, two days before the end of term, in the Gryffindor common room.  
  
By now, the entire school had accepted what had happened as a terrible tragedy and a horrific accident, but some still remained in a deep state of shock, namely Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, who seemed to have a certain fondness for Cedric, not only as a worthy adversary. Harry, despite his calm exterior, was torn up inside, he blamed himself for Cedric's death.  
  
The end of year feast was to be a very somber affair, for every house, except Slytherin of course, who took delight in other people's pain. McGonagall had asked that Harry be left alone and not asked any questions about that fateful June day, and people respected that.  
  
The Great Hall, instead of being decked out in the House Cup winning houses colours, was adorned in black banners, as a mark of respect.  
  
Em entered the hall, on the arms of Alicia and Hermione, a few heads turned, but Em had simply become known as the lucky girl who'd dated Cedric to most of the fifth, sixth, and seventh year girls. To the younger, Quidditch crazy students, she was the infamous Puddlemere Seeker.  
  
Once all the students had entered the room, Professor McGonagall signaled for silence, the room fell quiet. Em looked up to the teacher table, where almost every teacher was in black, or a very dark colour at least.  
  
The headmistress stood up from her seat, and looked across the hall with a heavy sadness.  
  
"We should be celebrating the end of another school year, celebrating another group of young witches and wizards graduation, but here we are, mourning the death of one of our own, one of our students. Cedric Diggory."  
  
A few students winced at the mention of his name, and some shed a few more tears.  
  
"Cedric was murdered by Lord Voldemort..."  
  
A shocked gasp swept through the room, a quick chatter rose up among certain groups. McGonagall raised her hand.  
  
"He was murdered by terrible co-incidence, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so now, I ask to raise your glasses in a toast to Cedric Diggory."  
  
(Right now, start playing 'Stranger In Paradise' by Opera Babes)  
  
Everyone raised their glasses, and low repeat of his name swept the room. Em closed her eyes and let her mind drift away; she opened her eyes to see a blinding light. She breathed in the air; it felt cool on her skin. She looked down, she wasn't wearing her school robes any more, she was wearing a thin white summery dress. She wasn't in the great hall either; she was in a pure flowering field, filled with smiling faces, running around happily with one another. One of the figures approached her, dressed from head to toe in white clothes.  
  
'Cedric'  
  
'Hey, pretty big thing down there for me huh?'  
  
'Where the heck am I?'  
  
'You're still in the hall, but in your mind, you're seeing where I am now..'  
  
'Is this...'  
  
'Yep, heaven, it's not so bad'  
  
'You don't miss being at school, with your friends?'  
  
'Yeah sure I do, but, I guess' he sighed, 'I've kinda grown to like it up here.'  
  
Em looked at him with sorrowful eyes, and a tear slid down her pale cheek. Cedric caught it with one finger, and wiped it away before she had a chance to shed any more.  
  
'Look, you have to back now, I don't want you to, but you don't have much choice...just remember, I love you, and nothing's ever gonna change that.' he stopped and looked deep into her eyes, '...and good luck with Oliver, you two deserve each other...' he kissed her lightly on the lips, leaving her breathless, as she fell back to reality.  
  
Alicia laid a supportive hand on her friends shoulder, and she opened her eyes.  
  
"You ok?" the Gryffindor chaser asked  
  
Em looked at the table in front of her, taking a couple of deep breaths, disbelieving what she'd just seen.  
  
"Um.yeah, I'm fine.." she lowered her voice to a whisper, "I think.."  
  
The feast went ahead afterwards, as planned, but with little chatter among the pupils, but what was heard involved You-know-who's return.  
  
Harry, although he had a lot on his mind, took the time to notice that Emilia was unbelievably upset, and he sympathized with her, he looked over to her and said:  
  
"Hey, try not to think on it too much, it'll only making the hurting worse."  
  
"Thanks Harry."  
  
"Besides, we'll be out of here in a few days, you'll get to go back to London, and see Oliver, and aren't you spending some of the summer up in Scotland with his parents?"  
  
"Yes I am" replied Em; surprised that Harry knew so much.  
  
"Mmpfh, that reminds me." said George, wiping his mouth.  
  
"What?" asked Em, turning her head to the redhaired teen.  
  
"We were wondering if you'd like to spend a week or so at our house in the holidays?"  
  
"I'd love to, but I'll have to see what happens with seeing Oliver's parents, that might take a while."  
  
"Why?" asked Katie, looking past George.  
  
"Um.because they don't know that we're engaged yet."  
  
The group looked confused and asked why.  
  
"For a start, they don't get the Daily Prophet up there, and he doesn't owl them all that often, so they haven't heard yet."  
  
"Oh.I see" said Harry, shying away from the subject.  
  
After the feast was over, it had seemed to last forever, everyone was sent to their dormitories to begin packing their things for going home in two days time. School robes were no longer worn, which left everyone free to express themselves a little.  
  
Em walked to the common room after she'd finished trying to get her broom in her trunk, which didn't work, but then she remembered shrinking charms. Harry and Ron were sitting at a small table, playing wizards chess, as per usual, Hermione was reading up on spells and charms they were going to learn next year. Em smiled slightly and walked over to her.  
  
"Hermione, honey, listen, you need to slow down and relax a little, you'll end up working yourself to death at this rate."  
  
The hazel-haired teen smiled and shook her wavy hair about her face.  
  
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The two days until the end of term flew by very quickly, and before you could turn around twice, everyone was at Hogsmeade station, loading themselves onto the Hogwarts express. Hagrid had turned out to say goodbye to everyone, as he did every year.  
  
"Goodbye 'arry" he boomed, as Mr. Potter boarded the train, with Ron, Hermione and Ginny.  
  
Em swept past the half-giant and he stopped her with one of his huge hands.  
  
"Miss Stewart, I um.I"  
  
"It's Em"  
  
"Em.." he began, "I jus' want to say, how sorry I am 'bout all the, you know, bother you've been 'avin"  
  
"Thanks Hagrid, but there's no words anyone can say that will make things alright again."  
  
"Yer' right, but anyway, bes' be gettin' yourself away there, don't want to miss the train now do ya?" he gave her an affectionate pat on the head, and she went away to where Alicia and Katie were beckoning to her.  
  
The train began to move before they'd found a compartment, causing them to wobble a little whilst walking, but they found where the twins and Angelina already were. They crowded themselves in and sat down.  
  
Em pulled out a dog-eared copy of Lord Of The Rings and began reading, she'd been engrossed in the epic before she'd come to Hogwarts, but since the school year began, she didn't have much time to read it.  
  
"Whassat?" mumbled Fred, through a mouthful of pumpkin pastie.  
  
"This.." said Em, brandishing the book in the air, "..is one of the greatest fantasy books of all time, written by a muggle author too.."  
  
"What's it all about?"  
  
"It's your basic good versus evil story, with a magic ring that could cover all the world in darkness. This hobbit, who's like a little three foot tall guy has to take this ring to the domain of evil, Mordor, and throw it into a mountain filled with fire.."  
  
"Right.." laughed Fred, more confused than he had been before.  
  
"Take it from me, it's good, you should try reading it sometime, there are many lessons to be learned from it"  
  
The others chatted on, while Em remained immersed in her book, only pausing when she reached the point where Sam thought Frodo was dead after his poisoning by Shelob.  
  
"You, know, I've read this part five times, and it still makes my cry" she said, a tear rolling down her face.."  
  
"Awwww" mocked Katie, ruffling Em's hair.  
  
A voice rang through the compartment suddenly:  
  
"We will be arriving at Platform 9 and ¾ in ten minutes, please collect all your belongings now please."  
  
Everyone in the cramped compartment gathered up their things, and sure enough, they reached Platform 9 and 3/4 . Everyone poured off the train, and promises of letters being written throughout the holidays were being thrown everywhere, friends saying goodbye.  
  
"Well Em, owl us if you can come over ok?" smiled George, sweeping his friend into a hug  
  
"Yeah sure, and to the rest of you, expect loads of owls with what happened in Scotland coming your way." laughed Em, her stomach turning slightly at the thought of where she would be in a few days. "OK, bye you guys." she waved, heading towards the barrier.  
  
She passed through it, narrowly missing a smartly dressed irate looking man.  
  
"Em!" exclaimed Oliver, standing tall above the crowd, and waving an arm frantically.  
  
She smiled broadly and ran as fast as she could towards him, abandoning her trolley halfway. She ran to him and he swept her into his arms and swung her around a few times.  
  
"Oh, I've missed you" he said, nuzzling her neck.  
  
"Ok, I've missed you too, but I need to get my stuff before someone nicks it ok?" laughed Em, running after her trolley, which was thankfully where she'd left it.  
  
Oliver came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, before taking the trolley from her and ushering her towards the exit, where outside sat his slightly better conditioned than the last time she'd seen it, Fiat.  
  
"Away up to bonnie Scotland then?" he laughed, the thought of going home bringing a warm feeling to him.  
  
"Yep, away we go," smiled Em, almost dreading the though of meeting his parents.  
  
"We're flying from Heathrow in about twelve hours, up to Glasgow, and then onto Oban from there.."  
  
"Here's to a productive summer" she smiled, mock-toasting a can of Coke that she'd picked up in the station.. 


End file.
